S'^lf/ox. 


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(J)rofe06ot  T5?ifftam  %tXKV^  (Breen 

Q$equeat^^  ^t  ^itn  to 
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(princefon  C^eofogtcaf  ^entinarj 

BV  4501  .M485 
Meyer,  F.  B.  1847-1929 
The  present  tenses  of  the 
blessed  life 


WRITINGS  OF  REV.  F.  B.  MEYER,  B.  i. 


Author's  Edition. 


yMr.  Meyer  is  a  meditative  writer,  keen  to  observe  the 
tpiritual  stig^estions  of  Bible  narratives.  He  works  along 
the  lines  fuade  familiar  by  the  works  of  Dr.  Macduff,  but 
there  are  signs  of  wider  reading,  and  a  stronger  and  more 
independent  mind." 

Joseph:   Beloved,  Hated,  Exalted $i  oo 

Tried  by  Fire.     Expositions  of  ist  Peter. . .    i  oo 

Israel  :   A  Prince  with  God i  oo 

Abraham;   or,  The  Obedience  of  Faith,   i  oo 
Elijah,  and  the  Secret  of  His   Power,   i  oo 

The  Psalms,  Notes  and  Readings i  oo 

The  Shepherd  Psalm 50 

Christian  Living 50 

The  Present  Tenses  of  the  Blessed  Life.      50 


ENVELOPE  SERIES  OF  BOOKLETS. 


The  Chambers  of  the  King. 
With  Christ  in  Separation. 
Seven  Rules  for  Daily  Living. 
The  Secret  of  Victory  over  Sin. 
The  First  Step  into  the  Blessed 

Life. 
Words  of   Help    for    Christian 

Girls. 
The  Filling  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 


The  Stewardship  of  Money. 
Where  am  I  Wrong? 
Young  Man,  Don'i  DriftI 
The  Lost  Chord  Found. 
Why  Sign  the  Pledge? 
The  Secret  of  Power. 
Our  Bible  Reading. 
The  Secret  of  Guidance. 
Peace,  Perfect  Peace. 


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jf leming  f>*  'Kepell  Compani? 

Chicago:  |  New  York: 

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• : :  pnblfsber  of  EvxndcUcal  literature  : ;  • 


THE  PRESENT  TENSES 


OF 


THE  BLESSED  LIFE 


BY 


F.  B.  MEYER,  B.  A., 


Author  of  "Abraham:  or  The  Obedience  of  Faith; 

"Elijah:  and  the  Secret  of  His  Power;"    "Israel: 

a  Prince  with  God;"  etc.,  etc. 


f  leminfi  1>,  -Revell  Companis 

Chicago:  j  New  York: 

148-150   MADISON   STRIET.  |  80   UNION   SQUARE    EAST. 

•  : :  pubUsber  of  Evangelical  literature  : ;  • 


PREFACE. 


JJfN  a  true  and  deep  sense,  all  who 
^believe  have  already  entered  upon  the 
Eternal  State.  They  have  stepped 
across  the  frontier  line  into  that  glori- 
ous state  of  being,  in  which  the 
changes  of  this  mortal  existence  can- 
not affect  the  permanence  of  their  life 
or  blessedness.  "He  that  bSlieveth  on 
the  Son  hath  eternal  life." 

And  it  is  important  for  us  to  remem- 
ber, that  our  position  does  not  depend 
on  our  experience  of  it,  or  on  our 
emotions.  These,  alas,  fluctuate  per- 
petually, now  waxing  to  the  full,  and 
again  waning  to  a  crescent  streak.  But 
we    are    independent  of    them  on  two 


PREFACE. 


conditions,  which  are     fundamental  to 
all  rest  and  peace. 

In  the  first  place,  we  must  learn  to 
live  in  our  will;  and  in  the  second 
place,  we  must  accustom  ourselves  to 
realize — not  what  we  are  to  God,  but 
— what  God  is  to  us,  unchangeably, 
constantly,  and  in  the  fulness  of  a 
present  blessing,  which  was  never  less 
than  now  in  the  past,  and  can  never 
be  less  in  the  future.  "He  abideth 
FAITHFUL."  Thus  we  shall  find  a  quiet 
habitation  in  the  Present  Tenses  of 
God's  dealing  with  us — the  present 
tenses  of  the  blessed  life. 

F.  B.   MEYER. 


CONTENTS. 


1.    "I  Am  With  You" 9 

ir.    "Mv  Peace  I  Give." i8 

III.  "Cleanseth." 28 

IV.  "Worketh." 36 

V.    "Strengtheneth.  " 44 

VI.     "LiVETH.  " ' 53 

VII.     "LOVETH." 62 

VIII.    "Reigneth." 70 

IX.    "Teacheth." 7  7 

X.     "COMFORTETH.  " 86 

XI.    "The  Four-fold  Cluster."  ..    94 

XII.   "Our    God    is    a   Consuming 

Fire" 104 


CONTENTS.- -C^«/m«^^. 

XIII.  The  Spirit's  Help." 115 

XIV.  "The      Spirit      Lusteth 

AGAINST   THE    FlESH.  " I23 

XV.    "Upbraideth    Not." 130 

XVI.    "All    Things  are  Yours."   137 

XVII.    "Working    Together    ?or 

Good." 146 

XVIII.    "I    AM  THE  First  and  •.v\;S'' 

Last." c       157 


THE  PRESENT  TENSES  OF  THE 
BLESSED  LIFE. 


I. 
"J  Hm  OTttb  190U." 

Matt,  xxviii.  20.  =  f   ^.-^ 

WO  hundred  years  ago,  there  lived  -Xj 
in  the  CarmeHte  Monastery  in  Paris,  ' 
a  simple-minded  man,  *who,  though  a 
cook  by  profession,  was  one  of  God's 
rarest  jewels.  At  the  age  of  eighteen, 
when  wandering  through  a  wood,  in 
the  depth  of  winter,  the  thought  was 
suddenly  flashed  into  his  mind,  that 
those  very  trees,  which  stood  before 
him  naked  and  bare,  would  ere  long  be 
clothed  in  all  the  glory  of  luxuriant 
leafage,  quivering  in  the  summer 
breeze.  In  a  moment,  he  realized  that 
God  must  be  there;    and  if  there,  also 

*  Brother  Lawrence. 


10         '*3  Urn  mitb  13ou/* 

everywhere;  and  he  said  to  himself, 
"He  is  here,  close  beside  me;  and  He 
is  everywhere;  so  that  I  can  never 
again  be  out  of  His  holy  presence." 
This  sense  of  the  nearness  and  presence 
of  God  became  thenceforth  one  of  the 
formative  thoughts  of  his  soul ;  it  nev- 
er left  him  for  long;  and  he  carefully 
cultivated  it,  so  that  it  mo«iilded  and 
fashioned  his  whole  inner  being. 

It  was  a  noble  thought,  and  it  would 
be  of  immense  assistance  to  each  read- 
er of  these  lines  to  acquire  an  habitual 
experience  of  the  same  kind.  But  be- 
fore we  can  do  so,  we  need  a  strong 
foundation  on  which  we  can  build  it 
up;  and  surely  it  would  be  impossible 
to  find  one  more  suited  to  our  purpose 
than  that  contained  in  those  precious 
words  with  which  our  Lord  parted 
from    His    disciples:      "Lo,  I  am  with 

YOU  ALL  THE  DAYS,  EVEN  UNTO  THE  CON- 
SUMMATION OF  THE  AGE.  " 

How  full  of  meaning  is  that  present 


Ubou  Hrt  Iftear,  0  %ovb.     n 

tense !  It  is  not  that  He  was  with  us, 
or  wiV/  be  with  us;  but  that  He  is 
with  us.  We  may  not  always  see  Him, 
or  realize  His  presence;  we  may  be 
blinded  by  our  tears,  or  dazzled  with  the 
false  glare  of  this  evil  world;  we  may 
even,  like  the  Lord  Himself,  in  mo- 
ments of  crushing  sorrow,  reckon  our- 
selves forsaken,  and  cry  out  for  fear, 
like  startled  babes  in  the  dark,  who  do 
not  know  that  their  mother  is  sitting 
by  their  side;  or,  like  silly  children, 
we  may  look  for  our  Friend  through  a 
reversed  telescope,  removing  Him  to 
an  infinite  distance  by  our  way  of  re- 
garding Him.  But  all  this  will  not 
alter  the  fact  that  He  is  with  us,  pity- 
ing us,  yearning  over  us,  and  awaiting 
the  moment  when,  by  a  gesture — as  to 
the  two  at  Emmaus — or  by  the  tone  of 
His  voice — as  to  Mary,  weeping  by  the 
empty  grave — He  may  make  us  start 
with  the  glad  consciousness  that  He  is 
near.    Happy  the  soul  which  has  learnt 


\ 


f2         ^^j  am  txattb  l^ou.** 

to  say  by  faith,  when  it  cannot   say  by 
feeling,    ' ' Thou     art    near,  .O    Lord.-^y 
(Psalm  cxix.    151.)  "^'^    ^C 

"All  the  Days" — in  winter  days, 
when  joys  are  fled;  in  sunless  days, 
when  the  clouds  return  again  and  again 
after  rain;  in  days  of  sickness  and 
pain ;  in  days  of  temptation  and  per- 
plexity— as  much  as  in  days  when  the 
heart  is  as  full  of  joy  as  the  woodlands 
in  spring  are  full  of  song.  That  day 
never  comes  when  the  Lord  Jesus  is 
not  at  the  side  of  His  saints.  Lover 
and  friend  may  stand  afar;  but  He 
walks  beside  them  through  the  fires; 
He  fords  with  them  the  rivers;  He  stands 
by  them  when  face  to  face  with  the 
lion.  We  can  never  be  alone.  We 
must  always  add  His  resources  to  our 
own,  when  making  our  calculations. 
We  may  always  imagine  we  hear  Him 
saying,  as  Alexander  did,  when  his 
soldiers  complained  of  the  overwhelm- 


ing  numbers  of  the  enemy,  "How  many 
do  you  count  Me  for?" 

Now,  can  we  not  somehow  acquire 
the  habit  of  recollecting  this  glorious 
fact,  and  of  living  in  its  mighty  cur- 
rent? I  think  we  may,  if  we  follow 
these  simple  directions. 

(i)  We  should  never  leave  our  pray- 
er-closets in  the  morning,  without  hav- 
ing concentrated  our  thoughts  deeply 
and  intensely  on  the  fact  of  the  actual 
presence  of  God:  there  with  us,  en- 
compassing us,  and  filling  the  room  as 
literally  as  it  fills  heaven  itself.  It 
may  not  lead  to  any  distinct  results  at 
first;  but  as  we  make  repeated  efforts 
to  realize  the  presence  of  God,  it  wilP 
become  increasingly  real  to  us.  And, 
as  the  habit  grows  upon  us — when 
alone  in  a  room;  or  when  treading  the 
sward  of  some  natural  woodland  tem- 
ple; or  when  pacing  the  stony  street; 
in  the  silence  of  night,  or  amid  the 
teeming  crowds    of    daylight — we  shall 


14  *^3  Hm  Timitb  120U." 

often  find  ourselves  whispering  the 
words:  "Thou  art  near ;  Thou  art  here, 
O  Lord." 

(2)  Then  again,  we  should  try  to  re- 
call the  fact  of  the  presence  of  God 
whenever  we  enter  upon  some  new  en- 
gagement; or  sit  down  to  write  a  let- 
ter; or  start  on  a  journey;  or  prepare  to 
meet  a  friend.  To  the  man  of  whom 
we  spoke  at  the  beginning  of  this  chap- 
ter, the  kitchen  was  as  holy  a  place  as 
a  church.  All  his  work  was  wrought 
in  God.  Daily  he  had  sweet  talk 
with  Him,  as  he  went  about  his  hum- 
ble service.  He  began  every  part  of 
his  duties  with  silent  prayer.  As  the 
work  went  forward,  he  would  lift  up  his 
heart  again  in  prayer;  and  when  it  was 
finished,  he  would  give  thanks  for  help 
received,  or  confess  the  sin  of  his  fail- 
ure. Thus  the  fireside,  with  its  pots 
and  pans,  its  heat  and  smells,  became 
like  the  gate  of  heaven  to  him;  and 
his  soul  was  as   much    united    to    God 


Timall^tng  mitb  (3o^.  15 


amid  the  tasks  of  the  kitchen,  as  when 
he  was  in  his  private  room.  -^~    ^; 

By  practice,  reniembgjjn^.  .^X)d  as 
much  as  we  can,  and  asking  Him  to^ 
forgive  when  we  had  passed  long  hours 
in  forgetfulness  of  Him,  this  habit 
would  become  easy  and  natural  to  us 
— a  kind  of  second  nature. 

(3)  Then  again,  we  might  do  much 
to  fix  this  habit,  by  cultivating  the 
practice  of  talking  to  God  aloud,  as 
we  would  to  a  friend,  in  the  most  nat- 
ural way,  and  about  the  most  trivial 
incidents  of  life.  How  much  they 
miss,  who  only  speak  to  God  from 
their  knees,  or  on  set  occasions !  There 
must  be  such  times  for  us  all;  but  we 
may  link  them  together  by  a  perpetual 
ripple  of  holy  and  loving  converse  with 
Him,  who  counts  the  hairs  of  our  heads 
in  His  minute  microscopic  interest  in 
our  concerns. 

It  was  surely  thus  that  Enoch  walked 
with    God.     And  it  was  this  which  en- 


''3  Hm  mttb  l^ou/' 


abled  Bishop  Taylor  to  say,  "I  am  a 
witness  to  the  fact  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
is  alive;  that  He  is  a  person;  and 
though  invisible,  accessible.  I  have 
been  cultivating  personal  acquaintance 
with  a  personal  Saviour  for  more  than 
forty-three  years." 

There  are  special  times  when  we 
may  fall  back  with  an  emphasis  of  com- 
fort on  this  majestic  consciousness.  In 
prayer,  Psalm  cxlv.  i8;  in  deep  sor- 
row for  sin,  Isaiah  1.  8;  in  anguish  of 
grief,  Psalm  xxxiv.  i8;  in  hours  of  per- 
plexity, Luke  xxiv.  15;  in  days  of  peril, 
2  Kings  vi.  16;  in  the  approach  of 
temptation,  Psalm  cxix.   151,    152. 

And  we  may  ever  count  upon  the 
ready  help  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose 
mission  is  to  remind  us  of  what  we 
should  otherwise  forget,  and  to  make 
to  us  what,  through  the  imperfection 
of  our  nature,  might  become  blurred 
and  indistinct.  This  at  least  may  be 
eur    comfort,  in  these  days  of  our  pil- 


•Mamtna  Mttb  Gob.  17 

grimage,  that  His  presence  is  ever  go- 
ing with  us,  as  it  went  with  Moses; 
and  that  presence  is  manna  and  water, 
guidance  and  protection,  deliverance 
and  rest.  "In  Thy  presence  is  fulness 
of  joy.  At  Thy  right  hand  there  are 
pleasures  forevermore. " 

"I    AM    WITH    YOU    ALL    THE   DAYS." 


'^S 


/S^/ 


II. 
''{Hb^  peace  5  (Btpe/' 

John  xiv.  27. 

fHESE  words  from  such  lips,  and  at 
such  a  time,  were  something  more 
than  a  common  Eastern  salutation.  They 
contained  Christ's  parting  benediction 
to  those  whom  He  loved  better  than 
His  life.  And  at  the  moment  of  speak- 
ing. He  did  forever  allot  to  His  be- 
loved disciples,  and  to  the  believers 
of  all  time,  a  legacy  of  Peace,  such  as 
filled  His  own  breast  with  unrufHed 
calm.  They  might  not  realize  all 
that  His  word  involved;  but  their  fail- 
ure did  not  annul  the  wealth  or  glory 
of  the  bequest. 


fovQivcncss.  19 

And,  as  the  years  passed  on,  they 
only  revealed  more  and  more  of  the 
depths  of  meaning  which  lay  concealed 
in  these  unfathomable  words. 

We  should  carefully  accentuate  that 
pronoun,  "My."  It  is  not  so  much  of 
the  Peace  that  He  purchased  with  His 
blood,  nor  of  the  Peace  of  heaven — 
that  our  Saviour  h-re  speaks:  but  of 
the  very  peace  that  filled  His  own 
glorious  nature,  and  kept  it  so  calm 
and  still  amid  the  storms  that  swept 
around  His  pathway  through  the  world. 
This  Peace  He  waits  to  give.  Stand- 
ing beside  some  reader  of  these  lines 
— who,  it  may  be,  is  careworn  and  anx- 
ious, the  head  aching  with  anxious 
thought,  the  heart  sick,  and  the  brow 
furrowed  with  deep  lines  of  care — He 
speaks  and  says,  "My  peace  I  give  unto 
thee."  Let  us  take  Him  at  His  word, 
and  appropriate  the  gift  with  rejoicing 
faith. 

If  we    now  turn    to   John    xx.   19,  21, 


20         <*/iD^  ^eace  J  (Btve/' 

26,  with  its  threefold  benediction  of 
peace,  we  may  be  able  to  distinguish 
some  three  further  shades  of  meaning 
in  the  peace  which  Jesus  offers. 

I.  There  is,  First,  The  Peace  of 
Forgiveness  (19th  verse). 

This  is  the  peace  of  the  Evening. 
When  the  day  is  done,  with  its  rush 
of  business  and  care,  its  multitudin- 
ous demands  on  heart,  and  head,  and 
hands,  what  a  relief  it  is  to  shut  the 
doors,  to  exclude  all  intruders,  and  to 
meet  with  beloved  and  familiar  faces! 
And  yet,  even  at  such  times,  there  are 
thoughts  which  we  cannot  exclude. 
The  disciples  might  shut  the  doors  of 
the  upper  chamber,  for  fear  of  the 
Jews;  but  those  doors  could  not  ex- 
clude the  memory  of  their  late  un- 
faithfulness and  cowardice,  their 
treachery  and  desertion.  And  these 
bitter  thoughts  were  more  terrible  to 
endure  than  their  fear  of  hostile  intrud- 


jfovQivcnces.  21 

ers.  Such  is  often  our  own  experience. 
The  day  that  opened  so  bright  and 
fair  has  become  marred  by  many  sad 
and  painful  incidents,  which  we  have 
been  able  to  disregard  amid  the  im- 
petuous rush  of  life,  but  which  refuse 
to  be  longer  ignored,  and  return  to  op- 
press and  sadden  our  hearts,  like  a  re- 
curring nightmare,  as  we  sit  down  to 
rest  in  the  quiet  of  our  own  chambers, 
beneath  the  fall  of  night. 

Some  impatience  or  outburst  of  irri- 
tability; an  unkind  word ;  a  look  of 
annoyance;  a  selfish  preference  of  our- 
selves to  others  whom  we  really  love; 
some  indulgence,  however  momentary, 
of  evil  imagination  and  unholy  desire; 
some  acts  of  meanness  or  overreaching 
in  our  business.  Ah,  it  all  comes  back 
to  us  afresh !  What  would  we  not 
give  not  to  have  yielded  so  weakly;  or 
to  be  ablj  to  live  the  time  over  again  ! 
But,  alas!  it  is  beyond  recall.  And 
our  only  comfort    is  in  the  presence  of 


22         *'/lD^  peace  5  Give:' 

the  Peace-giver,  who,  standing  be;>de 
us,  says  gently,  "My  peace  I  give  unto 
you;  "  and  shows  us  His  hands  and  His 
side,  marked  still  by  the  wound-prints 
of  Calvary,  the  pledge  and  guarantee 
of  forgiveness  through  His  blood.  At 
such  times  let  us  gratefully  accept 
what  He  brings;  and  wrap  ourselves 
about  in  the  mantle  of  His  tender,  for- 
giving grace,  as  the  dark  brown  earth 
of  winter  wraps  itself  in  the  mantle  of 
soft,  white  snow. 

The  great  enem)''  of  peace  is  the 
consciousness  of  sin.  He  who  would 
give  us  peace  must  deal  with  that  first. 
And  our  Saviour  is  equal  to  the  task, 
coming  fresh  from  Calvary,  "a  Lamb  as 
it  had  been  slain:"  revealing  the  war- 
rant and  ground  of  Justification;  so 
that  we  may  say  with  the  Apostle,  "Be- 
ing justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace 
with  God;  "  and  may  lay  down  to  sleep 
with  the  Angels  of  peace  and  forgive- 


XTbe  JEnem^  of  peace*        23 

ness  watching  us  through  the  hours  of 
unconsciousness. 

II.  There  is,  next,  Peace  in  Serv- 
ice (21st  verse). 

This  is  the  Peace  of  the  Morning. 
We  should  never  leave  our  room  until 
we  have  seen  the  face  of  our  dear  Mas- 
ter, Christ,  and  have  realized  that  we 
are  being  sent  forth  by  Him  to  do  His 
will,  and  to  finish  the  work  which  He 
has  given  us  to  do.  He  who  said  to 
His  immediate  followers,  "As  My 
Father  hath  sent  Me,  even  so  I  send 
you,"  says  as  much  to  each  one  of  us, 
as  the  dawn  summons  us  to  live  an- 
other day.  We  should  realize  that  we 
are  as  much  sent  forth  by  Him  as  the 
angels  who  "do  His  commandments, 
hearkening  unto  the  voice  of  His  word.  " 
There  is  some  plan  for  each  day's 
work,  which  He  will  unfold  to  us,  if 
only  we  will  look  up  to  Him  to  do  so ; 
some  mission    to    fulfill;   some    minis- 


24         *'f^>5  peace  5  6t\>e/* 

try  to  perform;  some  irksome  task  to 
do  better  for  His  sake;  some  lesson 
patiently  to  learn,  that  we  may  be 
able  "to  teach  others  also." 

Is  it  not  very  helpful  to  hear  Him 
say,  morning  by  morning,  as  He  re- 
veals His  plan,  and  gives  His  strength, 
and  sends  us  forth,  "My  peace  I  give 
unto  thee!"  And  that  Peace  the  world 
cannot  take  away.  Amid  its  wildest 
alarms  and  tumults  "the  peace  of  God, 
that  passeth  all  understanding,"  sen^t- 
nels  the  heart  and  mind.  "In  the 
world  ye  shall  have  tribulation:  these 
things  I  have  spoken  unto  you  that  in 
Me  ye  might  have  peace." 

Our  peace  is  often  broken  by  the 
demands  of  service,  and  in  two  direc- 
tions. On  the  one  hand,  we  do  not 
exactly  know  what  to  do;  and  on  the 
other,  we  are  doubtful  as  to  whether 
we  have  adequate  strength  for  the  ful- 
filment of  the  task  set  us.  But  each 
of  these  breakers  of   peace  can  be  met 


peace  In  Secx^tce,  25 


and  silenced   by  the  words   before   us. 
As  to  our  plans  we   need   not    be    anx- 
ious; because  He  who   sends   us  forth 
is  responsible  to    make    the    plan,  ac- 
cording   to    His    infinite  wisdom;   and 
to  reveal  it   to   us,  however    dull    and 
stupid  our   faculties   may  be.     And  as 
to    our    sufficiency,  we    are    secure   of 
having  all  needful  grace;  because    He 
never    sends    us    forth,  except    He  first 
breathes  on  us  and    says,   "Receive   ye 
the  Holy  Ghost."     There    is    always  a 
special    endowment  for  special  power. 
The  breath  is  so  gentle  and  light,  that 
we  are  often  ignorant  of    it;   it  passes 
as  the  zephyr  over    the   flowers  and  is 
gone.   But  it  is  not  withheld  from  any 
true  heart,  who  is  eager  to  do  Christ's 
work    on    Christ's    plan,  and    in    His 
strength. 

HI.  There  is.  Lastly,  Peace  in  Sor- 
row (26th  verse). 

This   is   the   peace  of  Dark  Hours. 


2  6        *^/ft^  peace  5  61\>e/' 

Such  sorrow  has  seldom  darkened   hu- 
man   hearts    as    that  which  settled  on 
these  men,   and  especially  on  Thomas. 
The    agony  of    his    doubt  was    in   pro- 
portion to  the  strength  and  tenderness 
of  His   love  (John  xi.   i6.)      He   could 
not  believe.     And   sometimes  we  have 
passed  through   phases   of    experience 
which    have    enabled  us  to  understand 
the    bitterness   of    his    soul.      When  a 
whole     storehouse     of     blessings    has 
awaited  our    turning    the   key  of  faith 
in  the  golden  lock,  but  we  seem  to  have 
utterly  lost  it,  and    can  only  lie  help- 
less at  the  feet   of    Christ,  bemoaning 
our  inability  to  believe — at  such  times 
Jesus  comes  to   us,  and    stands   beside 
us,  within  reach  ("Reach  hither,"  John 
XX.   27,)    if   not    within    sight    ("have 
not  seen,"  verse  29.)     He    suits    Him- 
self to  our  need;   and  stoops  to  fulfill 
our   conditions;   and    tenderly  lifts  up 
the    bruised    and    broken    soul;  whis- 
pering   as    He    does    so,  "My  peace   I 
^ive  uutQ  thee." 


peace  In  Sojjow^  27 

Dark  hours  come    to    us    all;   and  if 
we  have  no  clue   to    a    peace    that  can 
pass    unbroken    through    their    murky 
gloom,  we  shall    be    in  a  state  of  con- 
tinual dread.      Any   stone    flung    by    a 
chance    passer-by  may  break    the  crys- 
tal clearness  of  the  Lake  of  Peace,  and 
send  disturbing   ripples    across  it,  un- 
less we  have  learnt  to  trust  in  the  per- 
petual presence   of  Him  who  can  make 
and  keep  a  "great  calm"  within  the  soul. 
Only  let  nothing  come  to  you,  which 
you    shall    not    instantly  hand  over  to 
Him;    all    petty  worries;   all    crushing 
difficulties;   all    inability    to    believe. 
Tell  them    all    to    Him,  "who    knows 
all,  and  loves  us  better  than  He  knows.  " 
And,  in   response,   He   will    hush    our 
troubled    heart,     and    drive    away    its 
fears,  lulling  us    as    a   mother    soothes 
her    babe.      "Let     not    your    heart    be 
troubled,     neither    let     it     be    afraid. 
Peace    I    leave  with  you;   My  peace  I 
^ive  unto  you." 


III. 

I  John  i.  7. 
•NE  of  the  most  precious  chapters 
.in  the  New  Testament  tells  us  that 
on  the  eve  of  His  departure  to  His 
Father,  while  His  heart  was  brimming 
with  high  thoughts  of  His  origin  and 
destiny,  our  Lord  Jesus  left  the  lowly 
meal,  and  girded  Himself  with  a  tow- 
el, and  began  to  wash  the  feet  of  His 
disciples.  (John  xiii.)  He  refused  to 
do  more  than  this  when  Peter  asked 
Him;  because  He  said  that  those  who 
had  recently  bathed,  needed  to  do  no 
more  than  cleanse  their  feet;  which, 
after  the  Eastern  fashion,  were  unpro- 


Ube  iBvcvAivinQ  XTeacbet^     29 

tected,  save  by  open  sandals,  from  the 
dust  and  grit  of  the  roads.  He  washed 
their  feet  therefore,  and  they  were 
clean,  every  whit. 

This  incident,  in  which  Divine  Maj- 
esty shone  forth  in  Divine  humility, 
is  not  only  a  part  of  the  Gospel,  a 
story  of  eighteen  hundred  years  ago; 
it  is  a  fact  of  the  living  present. 
Judged  by  the  Divine  arithmetic,  which 
reckons  a  thousand  years  as  one  day, 
it  only  happened  on  the  evening  of 
the  day  before  yesterday.  Judged  by 
the  reckoning  of  faith,  it  is  taking 
place  to-day. 

There  are  two  ways  of  reading  the 
narratives  of  the  Gospels.  We  may 
study  them,  with  adoring  wonder,  as 
the  story  of  what  Christ  was;  or  we 
may  look  up  from  each  verse  to  Him, 
and  feel  it  to  be  the  record  of  what 
He  is.  Each  view  is  right;  and  we 
need  to  blend  them:  but,  as  a  matter 
of    fact,  we    more    often    look    on  the 


30  ♦'dleansetb/* 

evangelists  as  historians  of  the  past, 
than  as  chroniclers  of  the  present.  We 
forget  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  same 
to-day,  when  He  is  sitting  on  the 
throne,  as  He  was  yesterday,  when  He 
trod  the  pathway  of  our  world.  And 
in  this  forgetfulness  how  much  we 
miss!  What  He  was,  that  He  is.  What 
He  said,  that  He  says.  The  Gospels 
are  simply  specimens  of  the  life  that 
He  is  ever  living;  they  are  leaves 
torn  out  of  the  diary  of  His  unchange- 
able Being. 

To-day  He  is  sitting  on  the  Mountains 
of  Beatitudes  to  teach,  whilst  all  na- 
ture, like  an  open  book,  lies  before 
His  eye  to  give  Him  parables  that 
shall  make  the  eyes  of  children  glis- 
ten, whilst  they  instruct  the  most  pro- 
found. To-day  He  is  working  miracles 
of  healing  on  the  crowds  of  suffering 
ones;  passing  down  infirmary  wards, 
visiting  fever-houses,  standing  in  sick 
rooms,  with  His  Talitha    cumi,  and  His 


tlbe  iBvcicAMm  Ueacber*     3^ 

healing  touch.  To-day  He  rides  in  low- 
ly triumph,  amid  the  love  of  troops  of 
children  and  of  loyal  friends,  while 
the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  mock  Him 
to  scorn.  To-day,  also.  He  is  engaged 
in  washing  the  feet  of  His  disciples, 
soiled  with  their  wilderness  journey- 
ings.  Yes,  that  charming  incident  is 
having  its  fulfillment  in  thee,  my 
friend,  if  only  thou  dost  not  refuse  the 
Towly  loving  offices  of  Him  whom  we 
call  Master  and  Lord,  but  who  still 
girds  Himself  and  comes  forth  to  serve. 

And  we  mus^  have  this  incessant 
cleansing  if  we  would  keep  right.  It 
is  not  enough  to  look  back  to  a  cer- 
tain hour  when  we  first  knelt  at  the 
feet  of  the  Son  of  God  for  pardon; 
and  heard  Him  say,  "Thy  sins,  which 
are  many,  are  all  forgiven."  We  need 
daily,  hourly,  cleansing — from  daily, 
hourly  sin. 

Learn  a  lesson  from  the  eye  of  the 
miner,  who  all    day    long    is    working 


32  ''Cleansetb/* 

amid  the  flying  coal-dust.  When  he 
emerges  in  the  light  of  day,  his  face 
may  be  grimy  enough;  but  his  eyes 
are  clear  and  lustrous,  because  the 
fountain  of  tears,  in  the  lachrymal 
gland,  is  ever  pouring  its  gentle  tides 
over  the  eye,  cleansing  away  each  speck 
of  dust  as  soon  as  it  alights.  Is  not 
this  the  miracle  of  cleansing  which 
our  spirits  need  in  such  a  world  as 
this?  And  this  is  what  our  blessed 
Lord  is  prepared  to  do  for  us,  if  only 
we  will  trust  Him. 

The  Blood  of  Jesus  is  always  speak- 
ing for  us  before  the  throne  of  God. 
It  was  sprinkled  there  for  us  by  our 
great  High  Priest,  when  He  entered 
as  our  forerunner;  and  its  presence 
there  is  our  only  plea  for  mercy.  But 
that  same  Blood  is  ever  needed  by  us 
for  the  purposes  of  inward  purity.  It 
is  not  enough  to  quote  it,  in  the  past 
tense,  as  "having  cleansed."  We  need 
to  quote  it  in  a  perpetual  present;  and 


®uc  plea  to^  /IDejc^.         33 

to  say,  //  cleanseth.  Whenever  you 
shudder  at  the  evil  of  your  old  nature 
asserting  itself,  in  some  hideous  thought 
or  desire,  look  up  and  claim  the  cleans- 
ing of  the  precious  Blood. 

Whenever  you  are  assailed  by  the 
tempter  v^ho,  as  he  knocks  at  the  door 
of  your  soul,  soils  the  clean  doorstep 
with  his  tread,  look  up  again,  and 
claim  the  office  of  your  Saviour,  to 
efface  each  footprint,  and  to  remove 
each  stain. 

Whenever  you  are  horrified  in  contem- 
plating the  immense  distance  between 
your  best  and  the  ideal  manhood  of 
Jesus,  and  the  sense  of  shortcomings 
appals  your  soul,  there  is  but  one  re- 
sort that  can  avail  you;  it  is  not  the 
brazen  altar,  where  the  sacrifice  was 
slain,  but  the  laver  where  the  priests 
may  wash  as  often  as  they  need. 

Whenever  you  have  been  betrayed  into 
sudden  sin,  do  not  wait  till  the  even- 
ing, or  for  a  more  convenient  time  and 


34  ''Cleansetb/' 

place;  but  there,  just  where  you  are, 
lift  up  your  heart  to  your  compassion- 
ate Saviour,  and  ask  Him  to  wash  you 
and  make  you  whiter  than  snow. 

Before  entering  the  House  of  God; 
before  participating  in  any  act  of  serv- 
ice; before  undertaking  any  work  of 
ministry — it  is  our  bounden  duty  to 
seek  the  cleansing  away  of  all  that  may 
have  stained  our  raiment,  and  fouled 
our  hearts.  In  all  quiet  moments  it 
becomes  us  to  consider  our  need  of 
washing  our  feet.  If  we  lived  thus, 
we  should  find  that  our  communion 
would  be  unbroken ;  and  that  the  Great 
Master  would  constantly  take  us  in 
His  hands  to  employ  us  in  His  work. 
What  Jesus  wants  is  not  gold  or  silver 
vessels,  but  cleafi  ones.  And  though 
a  vessel  be  earthenware,  if  only  it  is 
clean.  He  will  use  it;  whilst  He  will 
pass  by  the  one  of  chastest  pattern, 
which  is  impure,  or  difficult  to  handle. 

It    is    impossible    to    exaggerate  the 


Tflseful  tDessels*  35 

importance  of  these  words.  Lie  as  a 
stone  in  the  bed  of  the  cleansing  grace 
of  Christ;  no  impurities  can  penetrate 
thither.  Remove  each  drop  of  acid  as 
it  alights  on  the  burnished  steel.  And 
let  this  present  tense  become  the 
watchword  of  a  Blessed  Life:  "The 
Blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son, 
cleanseth  me  from  all  sin." 


mm 


IV. 

John  v.  17. 
OD  is  the  great  Worker  in  the 
[World.  Though  He  entered  into  His 
rest  on  the  seventh  day,  yet  His  rest 
has  been  full  of  work.  He  works  in 
rest,  and  rests  in  work.  The  opera- 
tions of  Nature,  the  course  of  Provi- 
dence, and  the  evolution  of  an  evident 
plan  in  history;  all  these  are  living 
tokens  of  His  unwearying  activity.  "Of 
Him,  and  through  Him,  and  to  Him, 
are  all  things;  to  whom  be  glory  for- 
ever. " 

We  must  be  very  careful  not  to  hide 
this  fact    of    God's    personal    activity 


Zbc  Su5Jen^ere^  Ibeajt      37 

under  the  veil  of  the  Reign  of  Law. 
Men  speak  much  of  Law,  as  if  they 
considered  that  laws  were  forces ;  when, 
in  point  of  fact,  a  law  is  simply  the  un- 
varying method  in  which  the  force  works 
which  is  behind  it,  mysterious  and 
ineffable.  Talk  of  Law,  and  you  have 
explained  nothing  as  to  the  essence  of 
the  force  itself.  And  if  you  demand 
what  that  force  is,  there  is  but  one  re- 
ply, adequate  to  the  enquiry;  and  it  is 
given  in  the  one  all-containing  word — 
God. 

God's  workshop  is  the  Universe;  but 
you  may  also  find  it  in  the  surrendered 
heart.  There  is  a  beautiful  illustra- 
tion of  this  in  the  life  of  our  Lord. 
When  His  enemies  found  fault  with 
Him  for  having  healed  the  paralytic 
man  on  the  Sabbath  day,  He  answered, 
"My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I 
work."  This  deep  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion is  not  always  understood  or  ap- 
preciated.     The  usual    explanation  is, 


38  ^^Morftetb/* 

that  deeds  of  mercy  no  more  broke  the 
Sabbath  than  the  incessant  workings  of 
God    interfered    with    His    rest.     But 
there  is  something  still    deeper.     The 
in-workings    and    promptings    of    the 
Father   had    been    stirring  within    our 
Saviour's    spirit,  even   up  to  that  mo- 
ment, and  to  that  miracle;    and   there- 
fore He,  as  the  Servant    and    Son,  had 
no  alternative  than  to    obey.      If    then 
they  found  fault  at   all,  it   should    not 
be  with    Himself,  but  with    that  ener- 
gising Will,  which    had   moved    Him 
to  the  act  that  had  aroused  their  hate. 
Now,  in  a  lesser  degree,  but   on   the 
same  lines,  God  works    in    all    loving 
and  obedient  hearts;    so  that  the  Apos- 
tle could  say,  "Work  out  your  own  sal- 
vation with  fear  and  trembling!  for  it 
is  God  that  worketh  in  you  both  to  will 
and    to    do    of     His    good    pleasure." 
(Phil.   ii.    12,    13.)     The    same    truth 
appears  in    many  other    places.     "His 
working, which  worketh    in    me  might- 


Ube  Ibeavenli?  TOorker*       39 

ily."     "Working    in  you  that  which  is 
well-pleasing  in  His  sight." 

What  a  weight  of  staggering  thought 
is  excited  by  these  words !  Stay,  my 
soul,  and  wonder,  that  the  Eternal 
God  should  stoop  to  work  within  thy 
narrow  limits — filthy  as  a  stable;  dark 
as  a  cellar;  stifling  as  an  over-crowded 
room.  Is  it  not  a  marvel  indeed,  that 
He,  whom  the  heavens  cannot  contain, 
and  in  whose  sight  they  are  not  clean, 
should  trouble  Himself  to  work  on  ma- 
terial so  unpromising,  and  amidst  cir- 
cumstances so  uncongenial?  How  care- 
ful should  we  be  to  make  Him  wel- 
come, and  to  throw  no  hindrance  in 
His  way!  how  eager  to  garner  up  all 
the  least  movements  of  His  gracious 
operation — as  the  machinist  conserves 
the  force  of  his  engine;  and  as  the 
goldsmith,  with  miserly  care,  collects 
every  flake  of  gold-leaf!  Surely  we 
shall  be  sensible  of  the  fear  oi  holy 
reverence    and    the    trembling  of    eager 


40  ^^XimorF^etb." 


anxiety;  as  we  "work  out,"  into  daily 
act  and  life,  all  that  God  our  Father 
is  "working  in." 

Of  course,  in  one  sense  our  salvation 
is  complete;  but  in  another  it  is  still 
in  process.  "We  are  being  saved." 
We  were  saved  from  the  condemnation 
and  penalty  of  sin,  when  Jesus  died; 
we  are  being  saved  from  indwelling 
sin,  through  the  gracious  renewal  of 
the  Holy  Ghost;  and  we  shall  yet  be 
saved,  so  far  as  the  emancipation  of 
the  body  is  concerned,  when  the  trum- 
pet of  the  archangel  has  given  the  sig- 
nal of  Resurrection.  It  is  of  the  mid- 
dle term  in  this  series,  that  we  are 
thinking  now;  of  that  salvation 
which  consists  in  delivering  us  from 
the  power  of  indwelling  sin,  and  in 
fashioning  us  into  the  likeness  of  the 
Son  of  God. 

The  agent  in  this  work  is  God  Him- 
self. He  dwells  in  the  surrendered 
heart;  and  He  drives  all  evil  before  him, 


trbree  Hgenctes»  41 

as  the  first  beams  of  light  expelled  the 
brooding  chaos  from  the  universe.  But 
He  does  not  perform  His  work  mechan- 
ically,  irresistibly,   or    by    iron   force. 

He  works  by  promptings,  movings, 
checkings,  suggestions,  inspirations, 
touches  light  as  a  feather  and  soft 
as  an  angel's.  H  we  treat  these 
workings  with  neglect,  they  subside; 
and  the  soul  resembles  one  of  those 
deserted  pits,  in  which  the  machinery 
and  debris  tell  of  the  busy  tides  of 
workmen  that  have  long  since  ebbed 
away.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  care- 
fully obey  them,  they  become  more 
powerful ;  and  our  obedience  makes 
their  effect  permanent  in  our  charac- 
ters. Obedience  to  a  divine  prompt- 
ing transforms  it  into  a  permanent  ac- 
quisition. It  is  a  new  piece  of  work- 
manship, whether  of  gold,  silver,  or 
precious  stones,  built  into  the  fabric 
of  the  spiritual  nature. 

There  is  one  important  matter,  how- 


42  ^*Morl^etb; 


ever,  which  we  must  bear  carefully  in 
mind.  If  we  attend  only  to  the  iiinst 
working  and  striving  of  God's  Hoiy 
Spirit,  we  may  become  confused  as 
to  what  is  really  His;  for  Satan  will 
simulate  it,  that  he  may  annoy  us, 
transforming  himself  into  an  ange!  of 
light.  We  should  therefore  remember 
that  God  educates  human  spirits  by 
three  agencies:  by  the  Word,  by  ths 
Spirit,  and  by  the  events  of  Providence, 
And  these  three  always  agree  in  one; 
they  never  clash.  Whensoever,  there- 
fore, we  are  sensible  of  a  mighty  striving 
within  our  hearts,  we  should  test  it  by 
the  Word  of  God  on  the  one  hand; 
and  on  the  other  we  should  await  the 
opening  of  circumstances.  If  we 
follow  the  inner  light  without  the 
Bible,  we  shall  become  visionaries. 
If  we  follow  the  inner  light  without 
awaiting  the  unfolding  of  circum- 
stances, we  shall  be  unpractical. 

Let  it    be    our    chosen    attitude    iO 


(Blorit^  (5ot).  43 

open  our  whole  being  increasingly  to 
the  inworking  of  God.  We  were  or- 
iginally "His  workmanship,  created 
unto  good  works. "  And  now,  let  us 
ask  Him  to  work  in  us  to  will  those 
good  works,  so  that  our  will,  without 
being  impaired  in  its  free  operation, 
may  be  permeated  and  moulded  by 
His  will;  just  as  light  suffuses  the 
atmosphere,  without  displacing  it. 
And  let  us  also  expect  that  He  will 
infuse  into  us  sufficient  strength  that 
we  may  be  able  to  do  His  will  unto 
all  pleasing.  Thus,  day  by  day,  our 
life  will  be  a  manifestation  of  those 
holy  volitions,  and  lovely  deeds, 
which  shall  attest  the  indwelling  and 
inworking  of  God.  And  men  shall  see 
our  good  works,  and  glorify  our  Father 
which  is  in  Heaven, 


1MB 


V. 

*'Strengtbenetb/' 

Philippians  iv.  13. 

-T  was  a  marvellous  statement  for  a 
man  to  make:  "I  can  do  all  things." 
At  first  sight  we  suppose  the  speaker 
had  either  had  but  very  little  experi- 
ence of  the  world  with  its  varying  con- 
ditions; or  that  he  was  some  favoured 
child  of  fortune,  who  had  never  known 
want,  because  possessing  an  abundant 
supply  of  wealth  and  power. 

But  closer  consideration  removes 
each  supposition;  and  we  find  our- 
selves face  to  face  with  a  prisoner 
bound  to  a  Roman  soldier,  who  had  run 
through  the  whole  scale  of  human 
experience,  now  touching  its  abundant 
fulness,    and    anon   descending   to    its 


3  can  bo  all  UbirxQB.         45 

most  abject  want;  one  who  said  him- 
self: "I  know  how  to  be  abased,  and 
I  know  also  how  to  abound;  in  every- 
thing and  in  all  things  have  I  learned 
the  secret  both  to  be  filled  and  to  be 
hungry,  both  to  abound  and  to  be  in 
want."  It  was,  therefore,  after  a  very 
profound  experience  of  the  extremes 
of  human  life,  and  of  all  the  variations 
between,  that  the  Apostle  made  that 
confident  assertion:  "I  can  do  all 
things." 

It  is  a  temper  of  mind  which  we 
might  well  covet.  To  be  superior  to 
every  need;  to  bear  prosperity  without 
pride,  and  adversity  without  a  mur- 
mur; to  feel  that  there  is  no  earthly 
circumstance  that  can  disturb  the 
soul  from  its  equilibrium  in  God;  to 
be  able  to  yoke  the  most  untamable 
difficulties  to  the  car  of  spiritual  pro- 
gress; to  have  such  a  sense  of  power 
as  to  laugh  at  impossibility  and  to 
sing  in  adversity;  to    help    the    weak, 


46  ''Strengtbenetb/' " 

even  though  we  might  seem  to  need 
every  scrap  of  power  for  ourselves;  to 
feel  amid  the  changing  conditions  of 
life  as  a  strong  swimmer  does  in  the 
midst  of  the  ocean  waves,  which  he 
beats  back  in  the  proud  consciousness 
of  power — all  this,  and  much  more,  is 
involved  in  the  expression,  "I  can  do 
all  things." 

And  when  we  ask  for  the  talisman, 
which  has  given  a  frail  man  this  mar- 
vellous power,  it  is  given  in  the  words: 
^Hn  him  that  st7'engtheiieth  Me-''  The 
Old  Version  gave  through  Christ;  the 
New  alters  it  to  '■^hi  Him.''  And  at 
once  we  see  the  connection  with  all 
that  line  of  inner  teaching,  of  which, 
to  the  careful  student,  the  Bible  is 
so  full.  Those  words  are  the  keynote 
of  Blessedness,  first  struck  by  our 
Lord,  and  repeated  with  unwearying 
persistence  by  His  immediate  follow- 
ers, to  whom  they  were  the  secret  of 
an   overcoming    life.     The    one    main 


TOnton  witb  Cbrtgt         47 

thought  of  them  is  this — that  the 
strength  that  we  covet,  is  not  given  to 
us  in  a  lump,  for  us  to  draw  upon  as 
we  choose,  like  electricity  stored  in 
boxes  for  use;  it  is  a  life,  and  it  is 
only  to  be  obtained  so  long  as  we  are 
in  living  union  with  its  source.  Apart 
from  Him  we  can  do  nothing.  Whilst 
we  are  abiding  in  Him,  nothing  is  im- 
possible. The  one  purpose  of  our  life 
should  therefore  be  to  remain  in  living 
and  intense  union  with  Christ,  guard- 
ing against  everything  that  would 
break  it,  employing  every  means  of 
cementing  and  enlarging  it.  And  just 
in  proportion  as  we  do  so,  we  shall 
find  His  strength  flowing  into  us  for 
every  possible  emergency.  We  may 
not  feel  its  presence;  but  we  shall 
find  it  present  whenever  we  begin  to 
draw  on  it.  Or  if  ever  we  are  more 
than  usually  sensible  of  our  weakness, 
one  moment  of    upward    looking   will 


48  ^'Sttengtbenetb/' 

be  sufficient  to  bring  it  in  a  tidal 
wave  of  fulness  into  our  hearts. 

There  is  no  temptation  which  we  can- 
not master;  no  privation  which  we 
cannot  patiently  bear;  no  difficulty 
with  which  we  cannot  cope;  no  work 
which  we  cannot  perform;  no  confes- 
sion or  testimony  which  we  cannot 
make — if  only  our  souls  are  living  in 
healthy  union  with  Jesus  Christ,  for 
as  our  day,  or  hour,  is,  so  shall  our 
strength  be:  so  much  so,  that  we  shall 
be  perfectly  surprised  at  ourselves,  as 
we  look  back  on  what  we  have  accom- 
plished. 

Dwell  on  the  present  tense,  Strength' 
eneth.  Hour  by  hour,  as  the  tides  of 
the  golden  sun-heat  are  quietly  absorb- 
ed by  flowers  and  giant  trees — so  will 
the  strength  of  the  living  Saviour 
pass  into  our  receptive  natures.  He 
will  stand  by  us;  He  will  dwell  in 
us;  He  will  live  through  us — strength- 
ening us  with  strength  in  our  souls. 


Matting  on  Gob»  49 

The  dying  patriarch  told  how  his 
favourite  child  would  be  made  strong, 
by  the  mighty  God  of  Jacob  putting 
His  Almighty  hands  over  his  trem- 
bling fingers;  as  an  archer  might  lay 
his  brawny  skilled  hands  on  the  deli- 
cate grasp  of  his  child,  teaching  him 
how  to  point  the  arrow,  and  enabling 
him  to  pull  back  the  bow  string.  Oh 
what  beauty  there  is  in  the  compari- 
son! Who  would  not  wish  to  be  such 
a  favoured  one,  feeling  ever  the  gentle 
touch  of  the  hands  of  God,  empower- 
ing us,  and  working  with  us!  Yet 
that  portion  may  be  thine,  dear 
reader,  and  mine.  To  the  prayer  first 
offered  by  Nehemiah — "O  God, strength- 
en my  hand,"  God  answers  Himself: 
'Twill  strengthen  thee."  "Wait  on 
the  Lord,  and  He  shall  strengthen 
thine  heart."  "They  that  wait  upon  the 
Lord  shall  change  their  strength, "  /.  e. 
they  shall  exchange  one  degree  of 
strength  for  another,  in  an  ever  ascen- 


50  ''Stjengtbenetb/' 

ding  scale.  The  strength  of  Christ  is 
never  found  in  the  heart  that  boasts  its 
own  strength.  The  two  can  no  more  co- 
exist, than  light  and  darkness  can  co- 
exist in  the  same  space.  And  there- 
fore the  Apostle  used  to  glory  in  any 
thing  that  reminded  him  of  his  utter 
helplessness  and  weakness.  This 
thought  made  him  even  acquiesce 
willingly  to  the  thorn  in  his  flesh.  It 
was  at  first  his  repeated  prayer  that  it 
might  be  removed;  but  when  the  Lord 
explained  that  His  strength  could  only 
be  perfected  in  weakness,  and  that  the 
presence  of  the  thorn  was  a  perpetual 
indication  and  reminder  of  the  weak- 
ness of  his  flesh,  driving  him  to  the 
Strong  for  strength,  and  making  him  a 
fit  subject  for  the  conspicuous  mani- 
festations of  God's  might  at  its  full — 
chen  he  protested  that  he  would  most 
gladly  glory  in  his  weakness,  that 
the  strength  of  Christ  might  rest 
upon        him;        for       when       he      was 


DtfRculttes  anC)  Ujials*        51 

weak,  in  his  own  deep  consciousness, 
then  he  was  strong  in  the  strength  of 
the  strong  Son  of  God.      (2  Cor.  xii.  9.) 

It  would  be  a  great  help  to  us  all  if 
we  could  look  at  difficulties  and  trials 
in  this  way.  Considering  that  they 
have  been  sent,  not  to  grieve  or  annoy 
us,  but  to  make  us  despair  of  our- 
selves, and  to  force  us  to  make  use  of 
that  divine  storehouse  of  power, 
which  is  so  close  to  us,  but  of  which 
we  make  so  little  use.  Difficulties  are 
God's  way  of  leading  us  to  rely  on 
His  almighty  sufficiency.  They  are 
none  of  them  insurmountable;  they  are 
the  triumphs  of  His  art;  they  are  meant 
to  reveal  tons  resources  of  which,  had 
it  not  been  for  their  compulsion,  we 
might  have  lived  in  perpetual  igno- 
rance— just  as  hunger  has  led  to  many 
of  the  most  wonderful   inventions. 

What  glorious  lives  might  be  the 
lot  of  the  readers  of  these  lines,  if 
only    they    would     abjure     their    own 


52  **Stren9tbenetb/' 

strength — be  it  wisdom,  wealth,  sta- 
tion, or  any  other  source  of  creature 
aid;  and  if  they  would  learn  that  the 
true  strength  is  to  sit  still  at  the 
source  of  all  might  and  grace,  receiv- 
ing out  of  His  fulness,  and  mingling 
the  song  of  the  psalm,  with  the  glad 
affirmation  of  the  Apostle:  "I  will 
love  Thee,  O  Lord,  my  strength;  "  "I 
can  do  all  things  through  Christ  that 
strengtheneth  me!" 


VI. 

Revelation  ix-i8. 

fIFE  is  triumphant!  That  is  the 
glad  witness  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  especially  of  the  Apocalypse.  It 
was  a  revelation  indeed  to  the  world, 
on  which  it  broke,  as  tidings  of  great 
joy.  Up  to  that  moment,  the  majority 
of  men,  including  some  of  the  foremost 
of  the  race,  had  thought  that  death, 
and  night,  and  chaos,  would  end  all. 
And  some  of  the  sublimest  concep- 
tions of  the  ancient  world  embody  this 
sad  foreboding  for  all  time — the 
Prometheus,  in  which  man  struggles 
heroically  but  hopelessly,  whilst  the 
eagle  of  irresistible  destiny  feeds  upon 
his  vitals;  or  the    Laocoon,   in    which 


54  *%ivctb:' 


man,  in  his  sinewy  strength  is  involv- 
ed with  slender  youth,  in  the  coils  of 
the  serpents  of  fate,  against  which 
they  struggle  in  vain.  Children  were 
born  to  die.  Flowers  bloomed  to 
fade.  The  glory  of  the  spring  smiled 
but  for  a  transient  hour,  amid  the 
marble  of  their  temples  and  beside  the 
deep  azure  of  their  ocean  waves.  All 
things  at  last  seemed  doomed  to  be 
overcome  by  the  dark  elements,  which 
waged  perpetual  war  against  life, 
and  beauty,  and  joy. 

Into  the  midst  of  such  a  world  the 
tidings  came  that  Life  was  the  might- 
ier force;   and    that    Life    was    victor. 

And  when  men  asked  the  reason  for 
an  assertion  so  confident  and  so  glad, 
the  answer  was  given  in  some  such 
terms  as  these: — "There  lived  in  Pal- 
estine One,  who,  during  His  brief  life, 
was  the  assailant  of  death  in  all  its 
varied  forms.  He  beat  back,  by  His 
touch    and    word,     its    approach.      He 


Ube  tDfcto^»  55 

V  -  •-—— «-^ — - 

coxUpelled  it  to  lay  down  the  young 
life  which  it  had  only  just  taken  up. 
He  brought  from  the  grave  those  who 
had  long  passed  from  the  bourne  of  the 
living  world.  And  yet,  though  He 
might  have  seemed  impervious  to  death, 
at  last  He  too  succumbed  to  its  power; 
and  the  brightest  hopes  that  had  ever 
been  born  in  human  hearts  seemed 
destined  to  hopeless  destruction.  But 
it  was  only  for  an  instant.  Three 
days  were  long  enough  to  show  that 
He  could  not  be  holden  by  death. 
He  broke  from  its  prison-house,  and 
came  forth  victor  over  its  supremest 
efforts.  He  made  Himself  known  to 
His  friends  as  the  Living  One;  speak- 
ing and  talking  to  them  as  of  old. 
And  to  the  purged  eye  of  him  whom 
He  loved  He  gave  one  last  glorious 
vision  of  Himself  in  the  sea-girt  isle 
of  Patmos,  saying,  as  He  did  so: 
"Fear  not;  I  am  the  first  and  the 
last,   and  the  living  one;   and    I    was 


s6  "Xivetb." 


dead,  and  behold  I  am  alive  for  ever- 
more, and  I  have  the  keys  of  death 
and  of  Hades."   (Rev.   i.    i8,   R.  V.) 

This  was  the  keynote  of  the  gladness 
of  the  early  Church:  "We  know  that  our 
Redeemer  liveth. "  And  as  the  centur- 
ies have  slowly  rolled  away,  they  have 
not  been  able  to  rob  the  Church  of  her 
faith.  Year  after  3^ear  she  has  cele- 
brated Easter  with  songs.  And  in 
the  darkest  time  she  has  saluted  the 
living  Saviour  with  the  words:  "When 
Thou  hadst  overcome  the  sharpness  of 
death,  Thou  didst  open  the  Kingdom 
of   Heaven  to  all  believers." 

Who  can  fathom  all  the  consolation 
which  we  enjoy,  and  which  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  our  Lord  Jesus  is  living 
in  an  eternal  present,  never  more  to 
see  corruption? 

He  lives  as  our  High  Priest.  There 
was  a  fatal  defect  in  the  Jewish  priest- 
hood, because  they  were  not  able  to 
continue,  by  reason  of  death.      As  soon 


Us  tigb  t^vicst  57 

as  a  High  Priest  became  thoroug^hly 
versed  in  his  duties,  and  familiar  with 
his  charge,  he  had  to  follow  the  steps 
of  his  great  predecessor,  who  died  on 
the  summit  of  Mount  Hor.  But  ^/ii's 
Man,  because  He  continueth  ever,  hath 
an  unchangeable  Priesthood.  "Where- 
fore also  He  is  able  to  save  to  the 
uttermost  them  that  draw  near  unto 
God  through  Him,  seeing  He  ever 
liveth. "  What  music  is  in  those  words! 
When  we  come  to  God,  it  is  by  a  lii'ing 
way.  Nor  should  we  be  content  to 
leave  our  morning  or  evening  prayer, 
till  we  have  had  living  contact  with 
the  Living  One  Himself.  Prayer  may 
be  a  law;  but  it  is  equally  a  direct 
converse  with  a  real  living  personal 
friend — the  Prince  who  is  our  Brother 
— the  King  who  is  of  near  kin  to  us. 
And  this  is  surely  the  happy  experi- 
ence of  the  Blessed  Life.  To  know 
that  there  is  no  cloud  between  Him 
and  the  soul  ;  and  to  repeat  again  and 


58  ''%ivctbr 


again  vows  of  loyalty  and  devo- 
tion, spoken  not  into  the  responseless 
air,  but  into  the  living  ear  of  One 
whose  heart  responds  in  unutterable 
tenderness  to  the  stillest  whisper  of 
affection  and  trust. 

He  lives  as  the  Source  of  02ir  Life.  "Be- 
cause I  live,  ye  shall  live  also. "  This 
teaching  was  borrowed  from  His  own 
deep  inner  life.  His  life,  in  a  very 
significant  sense,  was  not  His  own;  it 
was  His  Father's.  He  said  that  the 
words  He  spoke,  and  the  works  He  did, 
were  not  His,  but  were  the  outcome 
of  His  Father's  indwelling.  "The 
living  Father  hath  sent  Me,  and  I  live 
by  the  Father."  Thus  it  happened, 
that  all  who  saw  Him,  saw  His  Father; 
and  His  life  has  been,  for  all  the  ages, 
a  manifestation  of  the  unseen  God. 

Similarly,  for  us  who  have  believed, 
and,  in  believing,  have  received  the 
germ  of  eternal  life,  He  is  willing  to 
be  all  that  His    Father  was    to    Him. 


Us  tbe  Source  of  %itc.       59 


He  is  our  life.  To  us  to  live  is  Christ. 
The  Son  of  God  liveth  in  us.  The 
life  of  Jesus  is  manifest  in  our  mor- 
tal flesh.  As,  in  the  olden  vision,  the 
precious  oil  came  through  the  golden 
pipes  to  feed  the  temple-lamp,  so  does 
His  life  come  through  our  faith  to 
feed  our  spirits. 

Happ^  are  they  who  are  dead  to  their 
own  life;  who  steadily    ignore    it  and 
^eny  it— that  the    life    of    Jesus   may 
nave  free  scope  in  them  to  rise  up  into 
all    the   beauty  and    glory   of    perfect 
life!     With    Him    is   the   fountain    of 
life;   would  that  all  our    fresh  springs 
were    ever   consciously   also    in    Him! 
We  do  not  need  to    coicern    ourselves 
about  the    progress  of    His  life  within 
us,  if  only  we  are  careful  to  mortify  that 
other  life,  our  own;  and  to  obey  all  the 
throbbings  and  promptings  of  His  life 
which  is  ever  pining  for  fuller    mani- 
festation   within    us.       Give    yourself 
wholly  -up  to  Him,  that  He    may    live 


6o  ''%ix>ctb:* 


through  your  being,  until  He  shall 
even  quicken  your  mortal  body,  and 
raise  it  up  in  resurrection-glory. 

JT)?  lives  to  lead  on  the  Ages  to  all  the 
Possibilities  of  Life.  What  lies  before 
us  we  cannot  tell. — what  glory,  what 
radiant  bliss,  what  rapture!  We  only 
know  that  He  spake,  not  only  of  life, 
but  of  life  "more  abundantly."  And 
we  are  told  that  He  will  lead  us  "Unto 
fountains  of  waters  of  life."  George 
Fox  tells  of  his  dream,  in  which  he 
saw  the  ocean  of  life  sweep  away  the 
inky  waters  of  death  forever;  but  who 
shall  fathom  that  ocean,  or  tell  its 
expanse,  its  depth,  its  shores? 

This  is  at  least  true — that  He  will 
never  rest  until  He  has  enlarged  our 
capacities  to  comprehend,  and  our 
hearts  to  receive,  the  fulness  of  His 
life.  We  are  only  learning  its  alpha- 
bet. We  are  like  a  brood  just  out  of 
the  egg,  lying  close  in  the  nest,  taking 
only  what    ^'s    given    us,     and    utterly 


Xlbe  ffulness  ot  Ibis  %itc,     6i 

ignorant  of  the  undeveloped  powers  of 
flight,  which  shall  enable  us  to  flash 
in  the  sunny  air.  But  the  time  is 
coming  when  we  shall  drink  of  His 
life,  and  live  for  ever  with  Himself. 
Till  then  let  us  eat  of  His  flesh,  in 
rapt  meditation  on  His  words;  and  let 
us  drink  of  His  blood,  in  loving  com- 
munion with  His  sacrifice  and  death; 
that  so  we  may  have  His  life  abiding 
in  us,  and  in  the  most  emphatic  sense 
may  live  by  Him,  until  mortality 
shall  be  swallowed  up  of  life.  And 
of  this  let  us  be  sure,  that  our  spirit- 
ual life,  though  tried  and  tested,  can 
never  be  extinguished,  because  it  is 
guaranteed  by  One  who 

"ever   liveth." 


m-k&iV:<>,^M 


VII. 

Rev.  I.  5. 
•HAT  a  wealth  of  meaning  is 
.<^  brought  out  by  the  Revised 
Translation  of  the  Doxology,  caught 
from  the  minstrelsy  of  Heaven,  with 
which  the  Apostle  John  opens  the  book 
of  Revelation !  We  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  read,  "Unto  Him  that  loved 
us; "  but  we  novr  find  it  translated 
from  the  past  tense  to  the  present, 
"  Unto  Him  that  loveth  us."  The  love 
of  Jesus  to  His  own  is  an  eternal 
noon;  a  perpetual  present;  an  ocean 
fulness  without  tide  or  shadow  of  turn- 
ing 

Of  course.  He  1  oved   us,  and  bore  us 
on  His  heart,  before  the  worlds   were 


XHncbanaing  %ovc.  63 

made.  It  was  for  love  of  us  that  He 
emptied  Himself,  and  became  obedient 
to  the  death  of  the  Cross.  Yes,  and 
He  will  love  us,  with  the  love  of  the 
Bridegroom  towards  the  Bride,  through 
those  golden  ages  which  we  are  to 
spend  with  Him,  dating  from  the 
marriage  feast,  and  ending  never.  But 
this  is  the  most  priceless  thought  of 
all — that  He  loves  us  now.  If  He 
loved  me  when  He  gave  Himself  for 
me,  it  is  certain  that  He  loves  me 
equally  to-day;  because  He  is  the 
same  in  the  to-day  of  the  present,  as 
He  was  in  the  yesterday  of  the  past, 
and  as  He  v;ill  be  in  the  for-ever  of 
the  future.  He  is  always  "this  same 
Jesus."  (Acts  i.  ii.)  Time,  which 
changes  all  things  else,  is  foiled 
when  it  approaches  the  heart  of  Christ. 
The  flight  of  ages  cannot  lessen,  or 
chill,  or  affect  His  Love.  "This  Man 
because  He  continueth  ever  hath  an 
unchangeable  priesthood  '. 


64  ''Xovetb/' 


We  are  so  apt  to  judge  of  the  Love 
of  Christ  to  us  by  our  appreciation 
and  enjoyment  of  it.  It  is  easy  to 
believe  in  it  when  we  are  bright  in 
spirits  and  well  in  health;  when  the 
atmosphere  is  clear,  and  the  air  is  in- 
vigorating, and  the  sun  shines  bright- 
ly; or  when  we  are  living  in  happy 
obedience,  and  conscious  fellov/ship. 
It  needs  no  great  effort,  under  such 
circumstances,  to  be  sure  of  the  Love 
of  Christ.  But  when  our  sky  is  over- 
cast, and  our  way  lies  through  a 
tangled  jungle;  when  they  are  increased 
that  trouble  us,  and  misfortunes  tread 
on  each  other's  heels;  when  we  are 
conscious  of  failure  and  sin — it  is  not 
natural  to  us  then  to  calculate  on  the 
unchanged  love  of  Christ.  Yet  we 
might  as  well  suppose  that  the  heat 
given  out  by  the  sun  varied  with  the 
temperature  of  our  fickle  northern 
climate,  as  think  that  the  Love  of 
Christ  changes  with   every    variation 


6ot>  %ovcB  /IDe.  65 


in  ourselves.  It  is  a  constant  quantity. 
It  is  not  turned  awa}^  by  our  sins.  It 
is  not  lessened  by  our  coldness  or 
neglect.  Like  some  perennial  spring, 
it  cannot  be  bound  by  frost,  or  re- 
duced by  drought,  or  exhausted  by  the 
demands  of  generations. 

The  truant  servant,  lying  spiritless 
on  the  desert  sands;  the  headstrong 
apostle  venting  denials  and  oaths  in 
the  midst  of  the  servants  of  his  Mas- 
ter's foes;  the  back-slider,  reaping  the 
bitter  harvest  of  his  ways;  the  dis- 
couraged exile,  mourning  in  the  land 
of  the  Hermonites  over  the  happy  past 
—all  these  may  look  up  to  the  empyr- 
ean of  the  love  of  Christ,  and  be  sure 
that  He  loveth  with  a  constant  and 
unwavering  attachment.  Write  this 
on  the  tablets  of  your  heart,  reader; 
that  neither  sin,  nor  depression,  nor 
height,  nor  depth,  nor  things  present, 
nor  things  to  come,  shall  be  able  to 
alter  the  fulness  and  constancy  of   the 


66  *'%0\>Ctb:' 


love  of  Christ  to  you.  If  only  Christ- 
ians would  really  grasp  this  great 
truth,  and  would  dare,  in  frequent  con- 
tradiction  to  their  own  feelings,  to 
believe  in  and  affirm  the  unchanging 
love  of  God,  they  would  reach  a  firnj 
standing  ground  from  which  the  great 
adversary  of  souls  could  never  dis- 
lodge them. 

"I  am  feeling  loneless  and  depressed  ; 
but  God  loves  me!"  "I  am  groping 
my  way  through  the  darkness ;  but  God 
loves  me!"  "I  have  fallen,  and  am 
no  better  than  others;  but  God  loves 
me!"  "I  am  passing  through  a  season 
of  sore  chastening;  but  this  makes  me 
only  more  sure  that  my  Father  loveth 
me! "  This  is  the  secret  of  victory 
and  rest. 

Our  Lord  bade  us  abide  in  His 
love.  "If  ye  keep  my  commandments, 
ye  shall  abide  in  My  love;  even  as  I 
have  kept  My  Father's  commandments, 
and  abide    in    His    love" — of    course. 


Seven  (Bolben  IRules*        67 

this  means  in  the  consciousness  of 
His  love.  It  is  one  thing  to  be  in 
the  light,  and  quite  another  thing  to 
know  it.  There  is  a  sense  in  which 
we  are  all  living  in  the  light  of 
Christ's  love;  but  we  do  not  all  enjoy 
it  as  a  living  practical  experience. 
"Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God. 
i.  e.,  cultivate  an  habitual  conscious- 
ness of  the  love  of  God  toward  you. 

There  are  seven  golden  rules  for 
acquiring  and  maintaining  this  con- 
sciousness. . 

(i)  Never  leave  your  room  in  the 
morning  without  a  distinct  apprehen- 
sion of  the  fact  that  "the  Father  Him- 
self loveth  you."      (John  xvi.    27.) 

(2)  Ask  the  Holy  Spirit — who  sheds 
abroad  the  love  of  God  in  the  heart, 
and  who  brings  all  things  to  our 
remembrance — that  you  may  hear  the 
whispers  of  His  still,  small  voice, 
perpetually  reminding  you  that  God 
loves  you. 


(>^  ''%ovcXh:' 


(3)  Accept  all  lovely  things — gentle 
words;  kindly  acts;  gleams  of  sun- 
light; the  songs  of  birds  and  the  scent  of 
flowers — as  being  the  token  of  His  love; 
and  look  up  with  a  smile  to  Him,  as 
you  say,   "I  thank  Thee." 

(4)  Avoid  all  things  that  are  inconsis- 
tent with  the  fact  of  your  being  God's 
beloved  child;  all  irritableness  and 
fretfulness;  all  petulance  and  anger; 
all  ill-speaking,    and  uncharitableness. 

(5)  Do  the  meanest  and  most  trivial 
things  for  the  love  of  God,  as  one  con- 
strained by  that  love  not  to  live  to 
self,  but  to  Him;  and  let  5^our  one 
aim  be  to  do  all  things  as  one  whom 
God  loves. 

(6)  Let  no  commandment,  of  which 
you  are  aware,  lie  on  the  page  of 
Scripture  unobeyed.  "He  that  hath 
My  commandments  and  keepeth  them 
he  it  is  that  loveth  Me;  and  he  that 
loveth  Me  shall  be  loved  of  My 
Father;  and  I  will  love  him,  and  will 


Seven  Golben  IRules.        69 

manifest  Myself  to  him."      (John    xiv. 

(7)  Cultivate  a  spirit  of  disinter- 
ested love  and  kindness  to  all.  "He 
that  dwelleth  in  Love,  dwelleth  in 
God,  and  God  in  him." 

Rooted  and  grounded  in  love  to 
others,  we  comprehend  best  the  love 
of  God  to  ourselves. 

It  was  the  charm  of  our  Saviour's 
life,  that  He  was  able  to  say,  ^/le 
Father  loveth  the  Son.      (John  v.   20.) 

Unloved  and  unwelcomed  by  those 
whom  He  came  to  save.  He  found 
solace  and  a  home  in  the  unchanging 
love  of  God.  On  the  eve  of  His  death, 
He  could  wish  for  us  nothing  better 
than  that  we  should  enjoy  the  love 
wherewith  the  Father  had  loved  Him. 

Let  us    not    miss    our    heritage    by 

supineness     or    neglect.      But    let    us 

live,  as  He  did,  beneath    the  spell    of 

this  sweet  and  heart-stirring  strain — - 

"He  loveth  us," 


VIII. 

Rev.  xix.  6. 
HAT  a  mirror  of  human  life  and 
history  is  the  Book  of  the  Revela- 
One  Geems  to  be  standing  in  a 
great  battlefield;  all  around  armed 
legions  break  in  battle-shock;  shining 
legions  locked  in  deadly  conflict  with 
the  dark  hosts  of  hell;  the  cries  of  the 
down-trodden,  the  dying,  and  the 
martyred  victims  wail  aloud  upon  the 
breeze:  but  amid  all  the  din  and 
tumult,  ever  and  again  rise  up  the  sweet, 
clear-voiced  choruses  of  redeemed 
and  victorious  ones,  who  cheer  the 
fainting  and  rally  the  desponding,  and 
hail  the  growing  symptoms  of  Heav- 
en's ultimate  victory.     Such  a  chorus 


Ube  SowQ  ot  IDtctoj^;        71 

rings  out  upon  our    ear    and    heart    in 
the  words  before  us  (Rev.   xix.   6). 

The  previous  chapters  are  full  of 
agony  and  conflict;  the  ploughshare  of 
war  is  driven  through  the  world;  and 
the  Apostate  Church  meets  her  doom. 
As  a  millstone  might  be  dashed  by 
a  strong  angel  into  the  ocean,  so  is 
Babylon  thrown  down,  never  to  be 
found  any  more.  And  as  she  sinks 
down  to  her  doom,  there  is  heard  a 
great  voice  of  much  people  in  heaven, 
saying,  "Alleluia!  "  And  again  they 
say,  "Alleluia!"  And  yet  again  the 
four-and-twenty  elders  and  the  four 
living  creatures  say,  "Amen,  Alleluia  !" 
And  then  there  issues  once  more  a 
solitary  voice  from  out  of  the  throne, 
calling  for  yet  further  praise;  and 
in  response,  the  Apostle  John  tells 
us,  "I  heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a 
great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of 
mighty  thunderings,  saying,  "Alleluia; 
for  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth  I " 


72  ''IRelgnetb/* 

Yes,  there  is  always  a  Halielujah 
Chorus,    whenever    the    Lord    reigns. 

We  shall  join  in  that  song  of  vict- 
ory and  triumph  ere  long.  Every 
sunrise  brings  it  nearer.  But  we  need 
not  wait  for  the  establishment  of  the 
millennial  kingdom,  ere  we  hear  or 
raise  the  ringing  cry  of  "Hallelujah!" 
We  may  catch  it  ringing  even  now 
around  the  earth;  we  may  hear  it 
breaking  gladly  from  redeemed  heart, 
and  surrendered  lives,  which  have 
learnt  that  the  reign  of  Jesus  is  always 
associated  with  the  Hallelujah  Chorus. 

Even  the  Old  Testament  teaches 
this,  in  three  memorable  Psalms,  lying 
almost  on  the  same  page — xciii.,  xcvii., 
xcix.  The  first  teaches  His  Kingdom 
over  Nature.  We  hear  the  break  of 
the  waves,  the  mighty  waves  of  the 
sea,  lifting  up  their  voices.  But  the 
Lord  on  high  is  mightier  than  the 
mightiest.  "The  Lord  reigneth;  Hal- 
lelujah !" 


Ube  XTjiumpbant  Iking.        73 

The  second  teaches  His  kingdom 
over  men.  His  enemies,  and  Judah's 
daughters,  alike  own  His  sway.  The 
most  careless  and  rebellious  are  sub- 
servient to  His  designs.  "He  doeth 
according  to  His  will  in  the  army  of 
Heaven  and  among  the  inhabitants  of 
the  earth."  Men  plot  and  scheme  as 
they  will;  but  they  only  do  what 
His  hand,  or  His  counsel,  determined 
before  to  be  done.  And  as  we  con- 
sider the  reality  of  the  glory  of  His 
sway — not  less  a  fact  because  unreal- 
izied  by  its  subjects — we  again  cry: 
"The  Lord  reigneth;  Hallelujah!" 

The  third  teaches  us  that  His  king- 
dom is  over  saints.  "The  Lord  is  great 
in  Zion. "  The  saints  recognize  but 
one  supreme  headship  of  the  Church; 
and  as  they  look  up  to  Him  who  is 
guiding  her  course,  and  governing 
her  politics,  unaffected  by  the  appar- 
ent contrarieties  and  disunion  amongst 
us,  again  they  cry,  "The  Lord  reign- 
eth;   Hallelujah!" 


74  *'mmcthr 

But  surely  all  this  applies  most 
closely  to  our  own  individual  experi- 
ence. We  never  knew  what  true  joy 
was  until  the  meek  and  lowly  Saviour 
rode  in  triumph  as  King  over  our 
hearts.  But  before  that  moment  we 
had  been  distracted  with  riot  and 
revolt;  with  bitter  experiences  of 
failure  and  disappointment;  with  a 
weary  sense  of  an  anarchy,  which  we 
could  not  put  down.  But  when  He 
entered  to  set  up  His  reign,  the  cry 
of  "Hosannah! "  rang  through  the 
citadel  of  our  inner  being;  and  it 
seemed  as  if  angel-voices  sang  to  us, 
"Rejoice  greatly!  fear  not,  for  thy 
King  Cometh  !" 

Ah!  the  devil's  lie  has  been  but  too 
successful  in  leading  men  to  think 
that  Christ's  reign  means  misery  and 
privation.  It  is  because  they  have 
believed  it  that  so  many  have  excluded 
themselves  from  it  altogether;  or 
have  submitted  only  apart  of   their  be- 


Iballelujab!  75 


ing  to  his  blessed  empire,  giving  Him 
the  environs,  whilst  they  reserve  the 
citadel,  the  Zion,  for  themselves. 
But  those  who  know  what  it  is  to 
yield  their  whole  being  to  His  gov- 
ernment, know  that  where  there  is 
the  increase  of  His  government,  there 
is  also  the  increase  of  peace,  and  of 
each  there  need  be  no  end  (Isaiah 
ix.  7.) 

Would  that  some  who  have  been 
living  a  sad  and  bitter  life,  might 
haul  down  the  flag  of  revolt,  and 
welcome  the  King  whose  reign  is 
founded  on  His  priesthood,  the  true 
Melchizedek,  the  Priest-king;  and  as 
the  King  of  Glory  passes  the  uplifted 
gates,  and  His  standard  flies  from  the 
citadel  of  the  will,  there  shall  ring 
out  the  cry,  "Hallelujah!  the  Lord 
God  omnipotent  reigneth." 

You  have  only  to  open  the  gates  to 
Him,  and  He  will  subdue  all  author- 
ity and  power;   He    will    bring    every 


thought  into  captivity;  He    will  keep 
down  the  rebellious  nature. 

Remember  He  is  omnipotent — om- 
nipotent  to  conquer;  omnipotent  to 
keep;  omnipotent  to  reign.  Life  then 
shall  become  one  long  Hallelujah, 
growing  deeper  and  sweeter  as  the 
years  roll  on.  No  event  will  disturb 
or  perplex,  because  in  each  incident 
we  shall  see  the  result  of  our  king's 
appointment ;  and  whether  we  1  ike  it 
or  not,  whether  it  causes  us  pain  or 
joy,  whether  it  shine  or  showers,  we 
shall  be  able  to  cry, 

"Hallelujah! 

FOR    THE  Lord  God  omnipotent 

REIGNETH.  " 


IX. 

^'ireacbetb." 

I  John  ii.  27. 
HAT  was  a  true  word  spoken  by  the 
prophet  when  he  said,  "All  thy  chil- 
dren shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord;  and 
great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  chil- 
dren." (Isaiah  liv.  13.)  It  is  certain 
that  the  amount  of  peace  which  we 
enjoy  will  be  largely  in  proportion  to 
the  amount  of  teaching  which  we 
receive,  and  appropriate,  at  the  hands 
of  the  Lord. 

The  untaught  Christian  is  destitute 
of  the  deep  and  unbroken  peace  which 
is  the  inalienable  heritage  of  those 
who  have  graduated  in  Christ's  school. 
As  the  many  objects  of  fear  which, 
in  the  mind  of  the  savage,  people  all 


78  **Zcacbctb:' 


lonely  places,  disappear  when  he  is 
instructed  in  truer  sci^ence:  so  do 
doubts  and  misgivings  vanish,  as  the 
soul  comes  to  understand  its  true 
standing  in  Jesus. 

It  is  very  beautiful  to  mark  the 
direct  teaching  agency  of  the  Lord  in 
this  passage,  and  to  remember  that  it 
is     vouchsafed    to    a//    His    children. 

There  is  no  teaching  to  compare 
with  that  of  a  father.  The  profes- 
sional schoolmaster  is  apt  to  become 
mechanical.  He  looks  on  his  pupils 
as  so  many  brains  which  he  must  cram 
for  examination.  He  finds,  therefore, 
a  peculiar  charm  in  the  bright  and 
clever  ones,  who  will  repay  his  care; 
as  the  virgin  soil  of  the  Western 
States  responds  luxuriantly  to  the  first 
scratch  of  the  plough.  He  is  in  dan- 
ger of  underrating  the  value  of  those 
who  may  be  dull  because  they  need 
better  food — or  because  they  have 
come  of  a   race    of    dullards,  stupified 


Ube  Ifaitbtul  XTeacber.        79 

by  generations  of  lethargy.  The  little 
tired  maiden,  worn  out  by  nursing  the 
new-born  infant;  the  dull  and  stupid 
child;  the  boy  who  cannot  fix  his 
thoughts;  the  under-fed  and  the  ill- 
clad  offspring  of  poverty — these  are 
often  scantily  attended  to.  But  there 
is  no  such  partiality  with  a  father; 
and  it  has  no  lodgement  in  the  heart 
of  God.  All  His  children  are  taught. 
He  takes  equal  care  over  each.  He 
perhaps  takes  most  care  over  the  stupid 
ones;  putting  the  lesson  in  successive 
modifications,  that  it  may  be  brought 
down  to  their  capacity.  It  is  His 
chosen  business  to  make  you  know  His 
will;  and  if  He  cannot  do  it  in  one 
way.  He  will  in  another.  "Line  upon 
line;  precept  upon  precept;  here  a 
little,  there  a  little." 

We  are  oftenest  taught  by  chastening. 
As  the  Psalmist  fitly  says:  "Blessed 
is  the  man  whom  Thou  chastenest,  O 
Lord,  and  teachest    him    out    of    Thy 


8o  **Zcacbctb. 


law."  (Psalm  xciv.  12.)  It  may  be, 
that  there  would  be  less  need  for  this 
chastening,  if  only  we  would  learn 
the  same  lessons  in  the  easier  forms 
in  which  they  are  first  presented  to  us. 
It  is  when  all  other  means  fail  that 
chastening  is  employed.  But  surely 
it  is  also  true  that  there  are  some 
lessons  which  can  only  be  learnt  in 
the  Garden,  and  beneath  the  Shadow 
of  the  Cross.  The  most  deeply  taught 
Christians  are  generally  those  who 
have  been  brought  into  the  searching 
fires  of  deep  soul-anguish.  If  you 
have  been  praying  to  know  more  of 
Christ,  do  not  be  surprised  if  Retakes 
you  aside  into  a  desert  place,  or  leads 
you  into  a  furnace  of  pain.  God's 
private  mark  is  always  burnt  into  the 
spirit  in  a  furnace. 

But  after  all,  there  is  no  text  more 
clear  or  helpful  in  its  teaching  on  this 
matter  than  the  one  referred  to  at  the 
heading  of  this  chapter:    "The  anoint- 


XTbe  Mise  Ueacber^         Si 

ing  which  ye  have  received  of  Him 
abideth  in  you,  and  ye  need  not  that 
any  man  teach  you;  but  as  the  same 
anointment  teacheth  you  of  all  things, 
and  is  truth." 

Many  amongst  us  are  not  able  to 
attend  any  of  those  Conferences  for 
the  promotion  of  Christian  living, 
which  are  so  characteristic  of  the 
present  day,  and  which  are  helping  to 
prepare  the  Bride  for  the  coming  of 
her  Lord.  And  there  is  sometimes  a 
fear  entertained  by  such,  that  they 
will  fail  to  acquire  some  of  those 
blessed  truths,  which  in  these  days  are 
being  so  marvelously  unfolded  to  our 
ken.  But  let  all  such  hush  their  fears, 
and  be  encouraged  by  the  assurance  of 
this  passage,  that  the  loving  and 
obedient  soul  need  not  want  any  other 
teacher  than  the  dear  Lord  Himself. 

If  the  education  of  the  inner  life  be 
intrusted  to  Him,  He  undertakes  that 
nothing  shall  be  lacking  which    ought 


82  ^^tTeacbetb/' 

to  be  known;  and  that  no  time  should 
be  spent  on  superfluous  or  needless 
Studies.  The  believer,  who  has  the 
private  tuition  of  the  Saviour,  will 
not  be  less  proficient  than  those  who 
have  sat  in  the  highest  seats  in  the 
school  of  the  church.  Yes,  and  when 
Christ  teaches,  He  needs  no  fee  or  re- 
ward. He  demands  only  willingness  to 
obey  and  perform,  as  each  new  item  of 
truth  is  presented.  If  we  will  only 
put  into  immediate  practice  the  truths 
He  imparts,  there  is  simply  no  limit 
to  the  blessed  lore  in  which  He  will  in- 
struct us.      "Who  teacheth  like  Him?" 

There  are  three  points  to  notice  in 
closing. 

I.    Christ  teaches  by    the   Holy    Ghost. 

It  is  unmistakable  that  the  Spirit  is 
referred  to  in  this  passage  as  "the 
anointing  which  we  have  received." 
The  inspired  symbol  for  the  Holy 
Ghost,  throughout  the  Bible,  is  Oil. 
The    oil   that    was    poured  on    Aaron's 


ITbe  fbol^  Ueacbet.         83 

head,  and  descended  to  the  skirts  of 
his  garments,  spake  of  Him.  The 
Holy  Spirit  is,  so  to  speak,  the  me- 
dium by  which  Jesus  dwells  in  the 
surrendered  heart,  and  operates  through 
it,  and  in  it.  Thank  God,  we  /lave  re- 
ceived the  Spirit  from  His  hands. 
And  when  He  gives.  He  never  takes 
back.  There  can  never  be  any  with- 
drawal of  that  which  has  been  be- 
stowed. He  abideth  in  you.  But 
though  the  Spirit  can  never  be  with- 
drawn, He  may  be  quenched  and 
grieved  to  our  unutterable  loss.  Let 
us  yield  to  Him,  that  He  may  put 
forth  in  us  all  His  gracious  might. 

2.  This  teaching  is  inward.  There 
are  doubtless  many  lessons  taught  by 
Providence.  But  after  all,  the  mean- 
ing of  outward  events  is  a  riddle,  until 
He  opens  "the  dark  sayings  on  the 
harp."  And  the  teaching  is  therefore 
so  quiet,  so  unobtrusive,  so  hidden 
that  many  an  earnest  seeker  may  think 


84  '*Zcacbctb:* 

that  nothing  is  being  taught  or  ac- 
quired, as  the  months  go  on.  But  we 
cannot  gauge  the  true  amount  of  pro- 
gress which  we  are  making  from  year 
to  year.  The  teaching  is  so  thorough- 
ly a  secret  matter  between  God  and  the 
Spirit.  But  when  some  great  crisis 
supervenes,  some  trial,  some  duty;  and 
the  spirit  puts  forth  powers  of  which 
it  had  seemed  incapable — there  is  a 
swift  discovery  of  the  results,  which 
had  been  slowly  accruing  during  long 
previous  hours. 

3.  T/ie  mam  end  of  this  teaching  is  to 
secure  om-  abiding  i?i  Christ.  "Even  as 
it  hath  taught  you,  ye  shall  abide  in 
Him."  All  Christian  progress  begins, 
continues,  and  has  its  fruition  here. 
Severed  from  Jesus,  we  can  do  nothing. 
Abiding  in  Jesus,  we  partake  of  "the 
root  and  fatness"  of  His  glorious  life. 
All  His  fulness  slowly  enters  into  us. 
What  wonder  then,  that  the  whole 
bent  of  the  Holy  Spirit's    teaching  is 


TOe  Ueacbers  Object.        85 

to  insist  upon  this  prime  necessity! 
And  we  may  well  study  hard  to  be 
proficient  in  this  sacred  lore,  learning 
how  to  abide  in  Christ,  because  all 
Heaven  is  there.  It  is  thus  that  God 
is  waiting  to  teach  each  of  us,  His 
little  children.  "If  thou  criest  after 
knowledge,  and  liftest  up  thy  voice 
for  understanding;  if  thou  seekest  her 
as  silver,  and  searchest  for  her  as  hid 
treasures — then  shalt  thou  find  the 
knowledge  of  God."     (Prov.  ii.  3-5.) 


X. 

**Comtovtctbr 

2  Cor.  i.  4. 
HAT  a  word  is  this!  There  is 
music  in  the  very  mention  of  it. 
And  there  is  not  one  of  us  that  cannot 
appreciate  its  meaning  and  worth.  In 
the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  God  calls  on 
others  to  comJort  His  people  and  speak 
comfortably  to  His  chosen;  but  here 
He  is  described  as  being  the  sole  com- 
forter of  His  saints.  It  is  as  if  He  re- 
fused to  wait  the  consummation  of 
all  things,  before  beginning  to  wipe 
away  all  tears  from  our  eyes,  and  were 
already  prepared  to  comfort  us  as  a 
mother  comforteth  her  first-born. 

In  God  there    is  the    mother-nature, 
as  well  as    th^  Fatherhood,     All    love 


Ube  Source  of  (Tomtort*      87 

was  first  in  Him,  ere  it  was  lit  up    in 
human  hearts.      The  fires  that  burn    so 
brightly  on  the  altars   of    motherhood 
the  world  over,  were  lit  in  the  first  in- 
stance from  the  Heart  of  God;  and  He 
keeps  them  alight.    And    therefore    the 
love  that  is  so  quick  to  detect    and    so 
swift  to  hush  the  wail    of    the    babe; 
which  is  so  sensitive  to    discover  that 
something    ails    the     troubled    hcar^; 
which  is  so  inventive  of    little    meth- 
ods of  solace,    now    by    tender    touch; 
and  again  by  delicate  suggestion — this 
love  is  in  the  great  heart  of  God,    and 
awaits  our  need  to  enwrap  us    in    the 
embrace  of  an    infinite  sympathy    and 
comfort. 

The  apostle  had  known  this  many  a 
*ime;  and  when  he  tells  out  his  expe- 
riences on  this  matter,  we  feel  we  are 
listening  to  one  who  knew  whereof  he 
spake.  Few  have  suffered  more  than 
he  did,  from  the  moment  that  he  gave 
up   all    for    Christ,    to    the    hour    in 


«8  ^^Conifortetb/* 

which  he  died  a  martyr  for  the  faith — 
the  break  with  old  friends;  the  physical 
sufferings  of  his  lot;  the  homelessness, 
and  privations,  and  continual  journey- 
ings;  the  care  of  aU  the  churches, 
the  opposition  of  false  brethren. 
Every  epistle  bears  some  evidence  of 
the  anguish  constantly  being  inflicted 
on  his  noble  and  tender  heart.  And 
yet  he  said,  God  comforteth  us.  "Who 
comforteth  in  all  our  tribulations, 
that  we  may  be  able  to  comfort  them 
which  are  in  any  trouble,  by  the  com- 
fort wherewith  we  ourselves  are  com- 
forted of  God."     (2  Cor.    i.   4.) 

There  are  many  ways  in  which  "the 
God  of  all  comfort"  comforts  us. 
Sometimes  He  shoots  a  ray  of  checi 
over  the  darkened  life  by  a  verse  of 
Scripture,  sent  on  a  card,  or  written 
by  a  friend;  sometimes  a  passage  of 
Scripture  rings  in  our  memory  like  a 
sweet  refrain,  rising  and  falling  as 
3.  peal  of  distant  bells   heard   across  a 


Oo^'B  IRaps  of  Comfort*       89 

wide  valley.  Sometimes  a  gift — 
which  shows  that  some  one  is  thinking 
tenderly  of  us — comes  into  our 
hands;  and  we  value  it  not  for  its 
intrinsic  worth,  but  because  of  the  love 
which  prompted  it,  and  which  is  the 
symptom  of  a  tenderer  love  behind. 
Sometimes  an  unexpected  friend  comes 
into  our  home,  with  a  bright  face  and 
a  warm  grasp  of  the  hand;  and  we  are 
comforted  of  God  by  the  coming  of  a 
Titus.  (2  Cor.  vii.  5,  6.)  There  is 
no  day  so  dark,  no  lot  so  sad,  but  that 
unto  it  God  contrives  to  put  a  little 
scrap  of  comfort;  not  enough  perhaps 
to  take  away  the  pain,  which  we  need 
as  discipline;  but  just  enough  to  carry 
us  through  the  sad  hours  which  move 
so  heavily. 

Let  us  look  out  for  God's  rays  of 
comfort.  There  is  never  sorrow  with- 
out its  attendant  comfort.  Only  we 
are  often  so  deeply  exercised  and  en- 
grossed with  the  sorrow,  that  we  miss 


90  ''Comtortetb/' 


the  solace.  We  are  so  downcast,  that 
we  do  not  see  the  angel-form  waiting 
by  our  side.  We  are  too  monopolized 
by  grief  to  be  aware  of  aught  beside; 
and  so  the  light  fades  from  the  land- 
scape unobserved,  and  the  sweet  singer, 
who  had  come  to  cheer  us,  steals  un- 
noticed out  of  our  homestead  for 
want  of  a  word  of  recognition,  and  a 
look  of  grateful  acknowledgment. 

It  is  sometimes  a  mystery  why  we 
should  be  troubled  as  we  are.  Why  is 
every  chord  of  sorrow  struck  within 
us?  Why  do  we  suffer  on  so  many 
sides  of  our  nature?  Why  are  we 
touched  in  the  property,  which  melts 
before  our  gaze;  and  in  the  home,  which 
becomes  darkened  by  death;  and  in  the 
person,  the  body  suffering,  the  heart 
lacerated  and  torn?  Some  go  through 
life  without  all  this.  But  they  are 
not  the  noblest  characters.  No  great 
picture  has  ever  been  produced  with- 
out shadpws  lurking  somewhere  Qij  the 


6ot)'0  /IDetbobB.  91 

canvas.  No  master  composer  in  music 
or  poetry  can  touch  the  heart  of 
humanity  without  having  suffered  first* 
But  there  is  a  yet  deeper  reason :  some 
of  us  are  permitted  to  pass  through  all 
kinds  of  tribulation,  that  God  may 
have  a  chance  of  comforting  us;  and 
that  we  may  learn  the  divine  art  of 
comfort,  so  as  to  "be  able  to  comfort 
them  which  are  in  any  trouble,  by  the 
comfort  wherewith  we  ourselves  have 
been  comforted  of  God." 

Shall  not  this  thought  comfort  us 
when  we  next  pass  through  any  sorrow? 
The  one  thing  in  sorrow  which  makes 
it  sometimes  almost  unbearable  is  its 
apparent  aimlessness.  Why  am  I  made 
to  suffer  thus?  What  have  I  done? 
Hush,  impatient  spirit!  thou  art  in 
God's  school  of  sorrow  for  a  special 
purpose.  Be  careful  to  notice  how  He 
comforts  thee.  Watch  His  methods. 
See  how  He  wraps  up  the  broken  spirit, 
with  touch  so  tender,  and  bandage  SQ 


92  ^^(Tomtottetb; 


accurately  adjusted.  Remember  each 
text  which  He  suggests — put  them 
down  so  as  not  to  be  forgotten:  there 
will  come  a  time  in  your  life  when 
you  will  be  called  on  to  comfort  an- 
other afflicted  just  as  you  are.  Your 
special  sorrow  is  sent  because  that 
which  you  will  be  called  on  to  solace, 
will  be  of  quite  an  unique  and  uncom- 
mon kind;  and  your  comfort  will  be 
required.  Without  this  special  dis- 
cipline yourself,  you  would  be  totally 
non-plussed  at  the  difficulty  of  your 
task;  but  you  will  have  no  difficulty 
henceforth.  When  the  agonized  heart 
comes  to  you  and  lays  bare  its  grief, 
bitterly  thinking  that  it  is  alone  and 
incomprehensible  in  its  anguish,  it 
will  be  comforted  by  hearing  that  you 
have  traversed  the  over-shadowed  path- 
way, down  the  deep  glen;  and  you  will 
be  able  to  tell  out,  step  by  step,  the 
way  in  which  God  comforted  you. 
0  Christian    workers,  who    long    to 


Ube  Constant  Comforter.     93 

become  adepts  in  the  art    of  minister- 
ing to  souls  diseased! — be    not  aston- 
ished if  your  education    be    long    and 
costly.      And    since    there    is    no    one 
else  to  practice    on,     be    prepared    to 
find  that  God  is  teaching    you    how  to 
comfort,  by  first  giving  you    the  pain, 
and  then  the  comfort  which    is    fitted 
to  allay  it.     No  tongue  can  tell  the  ten- 
derness of  God.      Only  let  us  go  to  Him 
more  freely;  opening  up  the  agony  of  our 
hearts.  The  very  telling  will  relieve  us. 
But  in  addition  to  this,  we  shall  be 
sensible  of    delicate    alleviations    and 
palliatives,  suggested  by  the  ingenuity 
of    a    Divine     tenderness,  which    will 
enable  us  to  endure.      And  God  is  never 
wearied  by  our  querulousness    or    pro- 
tracted sufferings.      He  lingers    beside 
us  through  the  years.    He  fainteth  not, 
neither    is  weary.     And  this    shall    be 
true  of  every  hour,  however  dark — and 
of  every  path,  however  rugged — 
"He  comforteth  us." 


XI. 

XTbe  ffouj*=ffolb  Cluster* 

John  x.  3.  4. 

fHE  figure  is  borrowed  from  a  fold 
in  some  mountain  valley,  where  the 
flock  has  rested  through  the  hours  of 
darkness,  protected  from  robbers  by 
the  deputy-shepherd  {the  porter),  and 
from  the  wolves  by  the  barriers  of  the 
enclosure. 

At  last  the  morning  arrives,  and 
with  it  the  shepherd.  He  comes  to 
the  portal.  The  porter  knows  his  step, 
and  voice,  and  knock;  and  opens  to 
him  without  a  moment's  hesitation. 
The  very  sheep,  more  docile  and 
sagacious  than  those  of  our  northern 
climes,  gave  evident  signs  that  they, 
too,  know  that  their    own    true    shep- 


'*tc  calletb  anb  Xeabetb/'    95 

herd  has  come,  for  "they  hear  his 
voice. " 

The  shepherd  then  proceeds  to  call 
them  out  by  name.  For  each  has  some 
special  name,  often  suggested  by  a  de- 
formity or  a  peculiarity  in  its  appear- 
ance. And  as  he  mentions  it,  the 
bearer,  proud  to  be  noticed,  comes 
from  among  the  eager  pressing  crowd, 
and  passes  out  from  the  fold  to  where 
the  shepherd  awaits  it,  beyond  its  con- 
taining walls.  "He  calleth  his  own 
sheep  by  name,  and  leadeth  them  out." 

Thus  at  last  the  whole  flock  emerge 
from  the  fold  and  stand  there,  in  the 
wild  mountain-pass;  while  the  giant 
forms  of  the  hills,  hushed  with  un- 
broken silence,  covered  by  bracken 
and  gorse,  and  haunted  by  wild  game, 
rise  around. 

When  the  shepherd  thus  put  forth 
his  own  sheep,  "he  goeth  before  them, 
and  the  sheep  follow  him;  for  they 
know  his  voice.     And    a  stranger    will 


96      Ube  ifour^J'olb  Cluster. 

they  not  follow,  but  will  flee  from 
him;  for  they  know  not  the  voice  of 
strangers."  It  is  said  that  cases 
of  dispute  about  the  ownership  of 
sheep  are  still  settled  in  the  East  by 
putting  the  flock  in  the  midst  of  a 
large  field,  and  by  letting  the  rival 
claimants  call  to  them  from  opposite 
sides,  it  being  a  well-known  fact  that 
a  sheep  will  always  run  to  that  side  of 
the  field  on  which  the  true  shepherd 
stands. 

In  all  this  there  is  an  exquisite 
parable  of  the  dealings  of  the  Saviour 
with  us. 

Who  is  there  that  does  not  know 
something  of  the  shelter  and  comfort 
of  the  Fold.!*  That  home,  with  all  its 
calm  and  happy  associations;  that 
situation,  held  so  long  that  its  duties 
have  become  a  sort  of  second  nature; 
that  competence,  hardly  earned,  and 
large  enough  to  promise  years  of  ease — 
these  are  instances  of    sheltering  folds 


**t>i3  ®wn  %bcc};>:'  97 

in  which  we  rest.  But  we  may  not 
rest  in  them  forever.  The  grass  about 
a  fold  is  eaten  down,  and  worn  with 
incessant  treading;  and  it  is  therefore 
very  different  to  that  which,  bathed  in 
dew,  carpets  the  mountain  sides  And 
so  the  true  Shepherd  comes  at  length, 
to  bring  us  out  of  the  fold  to  where 
the  fresh,  bright,  mountain  breezes 
breathe  freely,  and  life  is  luxury  in 
the  exhilarating  air.  It  is  a  matter 
of  daily  experience.  Changes  are 
permitted  to  pass  and  repass  over  our 
lives,  which  break  up  our  homes, 
scatter  our  nests,  shatter  our  schemes, 
and  drive  us  forth  to  the  untried  and 
novel  experiences  which  we  dread. 
But  in  all  these  changes  there  is 
always  the  personal  presence  and 
superintendence  of  the  Good  Shepherd, 
who  neither  slumbers  nor  sleeps. 

'He  calleth  His  own  sheep  by  name.'' 
It  is  a  searching  inquiry  for  us  each 
— Am  I  one  of  His    own    sheep?     For 


98      ITbe  jfour^ffolb  Cluster* 

if  that  is  settled  in  the  positive,  it  in- 
volves an  untold  wealth  and  weight  of 
blessing.  Given  to  Him,  in  the  eter- 
nal ages,  by  the  Father;  rescued  from 
the  wolf  at  the  cost  of  the  Shepherd's 
life;  endowed  with  eternal  life,  so  that 
they  can  never  perish;  safe  within  the 
hollow  of  the  guarding  hand  of  Jesus, 
from  which  neither  man,  nor  devil,  can 
pluck  them  forth;  known  intimately 
and  familiarly  by  Him  who  loves  un- 
utterably; led  in  to  rest,  as  well  as  out 
to  work — no  mortal  tongue  can  tell  or 
human  mind  imagine  all  that  Jesus  is 
or  does  for  those  whom  He  designates 
as  His  own  sheep.  But  this  is  clear 
and  unmistakable,  that  the  Good  Shep- 
herd has  an  intimate  and  individual 
knowledge  of  us  each.  He  knows  us 
by  our  name. 

In  the  wilderness  wanderings,  the 
Almighty  God  uttered  words  to  Moses 
which  have  ever  seemed  to  me  to  in- 
volve a  weight  of  meaning    far  greater 


Ube  3frient)6bip  of  Got),      99 

than  appears  upon  their  surface.  "And 
the  Lord  said  to  Moses,  I  will  do  this 
thing  also  that  thou  hast  spoken:  for 
thou  hast  found  grace  in  My  sight, 
a7id  I  knoiv  thee  by  name.''  There  is  a 
depth  of  significance  in  those  words 
which  cannot  be  expressed,  and  can 
only  be  realized  by  the  glad  soul  to 
whom  they  are  spoken.  What  inti- 
macy! what  familiarity!  what  dignity 
and  glory!  None  but  a  friend  could 
call  his  friend  by  name!  And  what 
must  it  not  be,  to  be  the  friend  of 
the  Deity  itself!  Yet  all  this  is  sure 
for  any  one  of  us,  whom  Jesus  knows 
and  calls  by  name. 

The  prophet  compares  the  starry 
hosts  to  a  flock  of  sheep,  scattered 
through  the  fields  of  space.  "Lift  up 
your  eyes  on  high,  and  behold  who 
hath  created  these,  that  bringeth  out 
their  host  by  number:  He  calleth 
them  all  by  names,  by  the  greatness  of 
His  might,  for  that    He    is    strong   of 


power;  not  one  faileth. "  But  surely 
one,  for  whom  Christ  died,  is  worth 
more  to  Him  than  all  the  hosts  of 
heaven!  And  if  the  stars  are  so  safe, 
because  He  is  responsible  to  maintain 
and  guide  them,  shall  not  we  too  be 
equally  safe,  whom  He  calleth/^j  name? 
Would  He  have  entered  into  such  inti- 
mate relationship  with  us,  if  that  were 
not  to  issue  in  an  eternal  union? 

There  is  one  sure  sign  of  the  true 
sheep:  ''they  know  His  voice.'"  They 
can  distinguish  its  sweet  tones  among 
all  other  sounds;  and  to  hear  is  to  obey, 
''He  leadeth  them  out"  In  heaven  He 
is  said  to  feed  the  redeemed  as  a  flock, 
and  to  /ead  them  to  living  fountains  of 
water;  i.  e.,  from  one  fountain  to 
another,  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
heart  of  Heaven.  But  this  gracious 
ministry  is  equally  His  work  on  earth. 
He  is  always  leading  us  out — out 
from  the  old  into  the  new;  out  from 
the  familiar  to  the    untried;   out    from 


*'1be  (Boetb  JSefore  Ubcm/*  loi 

the  attained  to  the  unattained;  out 
from  experiences  and  confessions,  which 
have  become  familiar,  to  the  glorious 
possibilities  of  Christian  living.  These 
leadings  come  in  many  delicate  and 
tender  ways  —  by  circumstances,  by 
friendships,  by  books,  by  passages  of 
Scripture;  but  when  they  come,  it  will 
well  repay  us  to  obey  and  follow. 
There  is  no  experience  in  the  Blessed 
Life  into  which  Jesus  will  not  lead  us, 
if  only  we  are  faithful  to  the  slightest 
intimation  of  His  will. 

'' He  putteth  forth  His  own  sheep.  "  Ah, 
this  is  bitter  work  for  Him  and  us — 
bitter  for  us  to  go;  but  equally  bitter 
for  Him  to  cause  us  pain.  Yet  it 
must  be  done.  It  would  not  be  con- 
ducive to  our  true  welfare  to  stay 
always  in  one  happy  and  comfortable 
lot.  He  therefore  puts  us  forth.  The 
nest  is  broken  up,  that  the  young 
fledglings  may  be  compelled  to  try 
their  wings  and  learn  to  fly.     The  fold 


102      trbe  ifour^folb  dlustet* 

is  deserted,  that  the  sheep  may  wander 
over  the  bracing  mountain  slope.  The 
labourers  must  be  thrust  out  into  the 
harvest;  else  the  golden  grain  would 
spoil.  Take  heart! — it  could  not  be 
better  to  stay,  when  He  determines 
it  otherwise.  And  if  the  loving  hand 
of  our  Lord  puts  us  forth,  it  must  be 
well.  On,  in  His  name,  to  green  past- 
ures, and  still  waters,  and  mountain 
heights! 

"He  goeth  before  tJiem.  Whatever 
awaits  us  is  encountered  first  by  Him 
— each  difficulty  and  complication: 
each  wild  beast  or  wilder  robber;  each 
yawning  chasm  or  precipitous  path. 
Faith's  eye  can  always  discern  His 
majestic  presence  in  front;  and  when 
that  cannot  be  seen,  it  is  dangerous  to 
move  forward.  Bind  this  comfort  to 
your  heart :  that  the  Saviour  has  tried 
for  Himself  all  the  experiences 
through  which  He  asks  you  to  pass ; 
and    He    would    not    ask    you    to   pass 


*'1bc  Goctb  JBetoje  Ubcmr  103 

through  them  unless  He  was  sure  that 
they  were  not  too  difficult  for  your 
feet,  or  too  trying  for  your  strength. 
The  Breaker  always  goes  up  before  us. 
The  Woodsman  hews  a  path  for  us 
through  the  trackless  forest.  The 
broad-shouldered  Brother  pushes  a  way 
for  us  through  the  crowd.  And  we 
have  only  to  follow. 

This  is  the  Blessed  Life — not  anxious 
to  see  far  in  front;  not  careful  about 
the  next  step;  not  eager  to  choose  the 
path;  not  weighted  with  the  heavy 
responsibilities  of  the  future:  but 
quietly  following  behind  the  Shep- 
herd, o^?e  step  at  a  time. 


^r 


XII. 

**Qnv  6ot)  is  a  Consuming  jfire/' 

Hebrews  xii.  29. 
•HAT  comfort  there  is    in    these 
words!     Once  they  only  filled  us 
with  alarm:  now  they  are  the  tidings  of 
great  joy. 

It  made  a  great  difference,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea,  on  which  side 
of  the  cloud  the  hosts  were  placed. 
To  be  on  the  one  side  meant  terror 
and  dismay:  "The  Lord  looked  unto 
the  host  of  the  Egyptians  through  the 
pillar  of  fire  and  of  the  cloud,  and 
troubled  the  host  of  the  Egyptians." 
But  to  be  on  the  other  side  mean  com- 
fort and  hope:  "It  was  a  cloud  and 
darkness  to  them;  but  it  gave  light  by 
night    to    these. "     Similarly,    a   great 


Us  a  Iftefiiner's  ifije,        105 

difference  is  made  by  our  position  to- 
wards God,  as  to  whether  the  words  at 
the  head  of  this  chapter  will  be  a 
comfort  or  a  cause  of  anxiety.  If  we 
are  against  God — enemies  in  our  mind, 
by  wicked  works  sinning  against  His 
gentle,  Holy  Spirit — we  can  look  for 
little  relief  in  considering  the  majestic 
symbolism  of  the  passage.  But  if  we 
are  on  His  side,  sheltered  under  His 
hand,  hidden  in  the  cleft  of  the  Rock, 
conscious  that  we  are  in  Him  that  is 
true— then  we  may  rejoice  with  ex- 
ceeding great  joy  that  "our  God  is  a 
Consuming  Fire." 

In  Scripture  Fire  is  the  invariable 
symbol  of  God's  nature  and  character. 
It  was  as  a  lamp  of  Fire  that  the 
Almighty  passed  between  the  pieces  of 
Abraham's  sacrifice.  It  was  as  fire, 
which  needed  not  the  wood  of  the 
acacia-bush  for  its  maintenance,  that 
He  appeared  to  Moses  in  the  wilder- 
ness, to  commission  him  for    his    life- 


io6      ''U  ComnmlnQ  iFire/* 

work.  It  was  as  fire  that  His  pres 
ence  shone  on  Mount  Sinai,  in  the 
giving  of  the  law.  The  Divine  accept- 
ance of  the  sacrifices  throughout  the 
ancient  ritual  was  betokened  by  the 
FIRE  that  fell  from  heaven,  and  fed 
upon  the  flesh  of  slain  beasts.  Mal- 
achi  said  that  Christ  would  come  as  a 
refiner's  fire;  and  when  the  forerunner 
announced  His  advent,  he  compared  it 
to  the  work  of  the  ruddy  flame,  which 
destroys  and  purifies:  "He  shall  baptize 
you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with 
fire."  "He  will  burn  up  the  chaff 
with  unquenchable  fire.  "  It  was,  there- 
fore, also  in  perfect  harmony  with  the 
entire  range  of  scriptural  symbolism, 
that  the  Pentecostal  descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  accompanied  by 
cloven  tongues,  like  as  of  fire. 

Of  course,  we  must  not,  and  would 
not,  deny  that  there  is  a  punitive  and 
terrible  side  to  all  this.  It  is  no  light 
matter   to   persist  in  sin.  .  "In  flaming 


tibe  JEvil  in  tbe  Ibeajt      107 

fire."  He  will  take  "vengeance  on 
them  .  .  .  that  obey  not  the  Gospel 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  "He  is  terri- 
ble in  His  doing  toward  the  children  of 
men."  Fire — which  is  our  most  useful 
ally;  which  labours  for  us  day  and 
night  in  our  furnaces  and  fire-places — 
is  harmless  and  helpful,  so  long  as  we 
obey  its  laws  and  observe  its  condi- 
tions: but  when  once  we  disobey  those 
laws,  and  contravene  those  conditions 
that  which  blessed  begins  to  curse,  and 
leaps  forth  upon  us,  carrying  devasta- 
tion to  all  our  works,  so  that  the 
smiling  fields  become  a  blackened 
waste,  and  our  palaces  a  heap  of  ruins. 
So  it  is  with  the  nature  of  God.  H< 
is  gentle,  loving,  and  forbearing:  but 
if  a  sinner  persists  in  sin,  shutting 
his  eyes  to  the  light,  and  closing  his 
heart  to  the  love  of  God,  then  he 
must  needs  discover  that  "with  the 
froward  He  will  show  Himself  for- 
ward."     "Ki«;s    the    Son,     lest    He    b^ 


io8       **u  Consuming  jffre," 

angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  way 
when  His  wrath  is  kindled  but  a  little. " 

But  let  us  turn  now  to  some  of  those 
gracious  thoughts,  which  are  enshrin- 
ed in  this  passage: 

J^'i're  searches.  Surely  this  is  one  of 
our  greatest  needs.  There  is  so  much 
of  selfishness  and  sin  in  the  very  best 
of  us.  Sometimes  we  get  a  glimpse  of 
what  we  are,  and  turn  our  thought 
swiftly  away  from  the  horrid  spectacle. 
And  what  we  ourselves  dare  not  con- 
template, we  carefully  hide  from  the 
gaze  of  our  tenderest  friends.  Ah, 
what  pride,  what  vanity,  what  self- 
conceit,  are  ours! — fretful,  if  not  su^- 
ciently  admired;  jealous,  if  outshone; 
mean  enough  to  take  advantage  of 
another,  if  only  we  can  do  it  without 
being  found  out;  capable  of  the  same 
vile  sins  which  flame  out  as  beacon- 
lights  in  those  who  are  not  restrained 
by  the  same  outward  bonds  as  we  are. 

No    malioious    critic     with    biting 


Ipurtfication.  109 

words  has  ever  touched  the  inveterate 
evil  of  our  hearts,  or  said  a  tithe  of 
the  truth  of  us.  We  have  never  our- 
selves realized  how  bad  we  are.  We 
need  not  be  surprised  at  any  further 
discoveries  that  may  rise  up  to  con- 
front us  with  shame  and  agony.  But 
it  is  well  to  be  searched.  The  ancient 
motto  bade  men  kiiow  thei7iselves.  The 
discovery  of  what  we  are  will  drive 
us  most  quickly  to  God  for  His 
cleansing  and  grace.  We  need  not 
wish  to  dwell  upon  our  sins,  as  though 
health  could  come  by  considering  dis- 
ease; but  we  may  gladly  accept  the 
searching  of  the  fire  of  God.  Let  us 
know  the  evil  things  that  are  within 
us.  Let  us  be  taught  how  much  wood, 
hay,  and  stubble  been  have  built  on  that 
foundation,  which  has  undoubtedly 
been  laid  in  our  hearts.  Let  us  sub- 
mit to  the  discoveries  of  disease, 
which  the  stethoscope,  the  searching 
finger,  the  probing-knife,  will  disclose. 


no       **u  (Tonsumtna  :^lre." 

O  God,  who  art  as  fire,  search  me 
and  know  my  heart ;  try  me  and  know 
my  thoughts! 

J^ire  cleanses.  Yonder  metal  is  min- 
gled with  many  inferior  ingredients: 
the  earth,  in  which  it  has  lain  for 
centuries,  clings  to  it;  dross  depre- 
ciates its  value.  But  plunge  it  into 
the  glowing  furnace;  raise  the  heat 
until  the  gleaming  light  is  almost 
intolerable  to  the  gaze;  keep  it  in 
that  baptism  of  flame — ere  long  the 
metal  will  be  cleansed  of  its  impuri- 
ties, freed  from  alloy,  and  fitted  for 
any  mould  into  which  you  may  desire 
to  pour  it.  Is  it  not  thus  that  God 
will  deal  with  us?  He  is  a  consum- 
ing fire. 

In  the  olden  vision,  when  Isaiah 
lamented  his  uncleanness,  there  flew 
unto  him  one  of  the  seraphim,  who 
had  taken  a  live  coal  from  off  the 
altar,  which  he  laid  upon  his, lips,  say- 
ing, "Lol    this  hath  touched  thy  lips; 


ffire  Uranstorms.         m 


and  thine  iniquity  is  taken  away,  and 
thy  sin  purged."  And  will  not  God 
do  as  much  for  us  again?  We  have 
been  cleansed  from  the  stains  of  our 
many  transgressions:  but  do  we  not  need 
this  deep,  this  thorough,  this  fiery 
purification? 

There  are  three  agents  in  purifica- 
tion— the  Word  of  God;  the  Blood  of 
the  Son  of  God;  and  the  Fire  of  God, 
which  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  know 
something  of  the  two  former:  do  we 
know  the  meaning  of  the  latter?  We 
have  been  purified  by  the  Water  and 
the  Blood:  have  v/e  passed  also 
through  the  Fire?  "He  shall  baptize 
you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with 
Fire."  We  cannot  define,  in  so  many 
words,  the  manner  of  this  sacred 
operation — it  is  a  matter  for  holy  con- 
sciousness: but  the  heart  knows  when 
it  has  experienced  it.  It  is  not  that 
temptation  ceases  to  assail;  or  that 
there  is  no  possibility  of  again   yield- 


112      **H  CouBumtnG  ff ire/' 

ing  to  sin;  or  that  the  evil  tendencies 
of  the  old  nature  are  eradicated:  but 
that  there  is  a  burning  up  and  con 
sumption  of  evil  things  which  had 
been  too  long  permitted  to  hold  sway, 
and  to  mar  the  glory  of  the  work  of 
God  in  the  heart.  There  is  deliver- 
ance, where  there  was  bondage;  there 
is  purity,  where  there  was  corruption; 
there  is  love,  where  there  was  malice, 
envy,  ill-will. 

This  blessed  operation  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  may  be  experienced  by  those 
who  will  take  no  denial,  and  who  by 
faith  claim  all  that  He  waits  to  do  for 
them.  Let  us,  then,  appropriate  that 
expressive  prayer  of    Wesley's   hymn: 

"Refining  Fire,  go  through  my  heart  !" 

Fire  transforms.  That  poker  lying 
in  your  fender  is  hard,  and  cold,  and 
black;  but  if  you  place  it  for  a  few 
moments  in  the  heart  of  the  fire,  it 
becomes  soft,  intensely  hot,  and  glow 


iFire  XTranstorms.  113 

ing  with  the  whiteness  of  incandes- 
cence. Take  it  out  again,  and  all  its 
old  qualities  will  re-assert  themselves; 
but  whilst  in  the  fire,  they  cannot  be 
manifested:  the  iron  is  transformed 
into  the  likeness  of  the  flame  in  which 
it  is  bathed. 

Thus  is  it  with  ourselves.  By  nature 
we  too  are  hard,  and  cold,  and  black; 
and  the  tendency  of  our  nature  will 
always  be  in  these  directions;  waiting 
to  re-assert  itself,  when  left  to  its  own 
devices. 

But  if  only  we  can  for  ever  dwell 
with  the  devouring  fire,  and  dwell 
with  the  everlasting  burnings  of  the 
Love  and  Light  and  Life  of  God 
— a  wonderful  change  will  pass  over 
us;  and  we  shall  be  changed  into  the 
same  image,  from  glory  to  glory.  No 
longer  hard,  we  shall  be  moulded 
into  any  shape  He  selects.  No  longer 
cold,  we  shall  glow  with  love  to  God 
and  man.     Np  longer  black,   we  shall 


114      *'H  Consuming  fftje/' 

be  arrayed  in  the  whiteness  of  a  purity, 
which  is  that  of  intensest  heat. 

Too  long  have  we  shrunk  from  the 
burning,  fiery  furnace,  which  is  not 
sorrow,  or  trial,  or  pain — but  God. 
Let  us  get  into  God.  Let  us  open  our 
nature,  that  God,  the  Holy  Ghost,  may 
fill  us:  then  shall  we  become  like 
Himself;  our  grosser  natures  shall 
seem  to  ascend  to  heaven  in  horses  and 
chariots  of  flame.  In  God's  Fire  we 
shall  become  Fire. 


i^i^e^Mli 


XIII. 

Ubc  Spirit's  Ibel^* 

Romans  viii.  26. 

tN  that  sublime  chapter,  which 
touches  the  whole  gamut  of  the 
Blessed  Life,  from  the  first  No  Con- 
demnation to  the  final  No  Separation, 
we  have  a  cluster  of  Present  Tenses, 
which  tell  of  the  incessant  working  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  And  we  need  to  pon- 
der them  well;  because  the  crying 
need  of  the  present  day  among  Chris- 
tians, is  a  clearer  apprehension  of  the 
gracious  ministry  of  the  Third  Person 
in  the  ever-blessed  Trinity. 
The  spirit  leads  us  (verse  14). 
This  is  a  very  dark  and  difficult 
world,  in  which  we  might  soon  lose  our 
way,  if  we  were  left  to  ourselves  with- 


ii6         XTbe  Spirit's  Ibelp. 

out  some  inner  voice  to  prompt  us 
and  direct  our  steps.  And  it  would 
hardly  be  like  our  Heavenly  Father  to 
leave  us  to  grope  our  way  in  the  dark. 
Is  it  not  just  what  we  should  have  ex- 
pected, to  find  that  the  need  is  met  by 
the  inner  promptings  of  the  Holy 
Ghost?  "Led  by  the  Spirit  of  God" 
(verse  14).  Those  leadings  may  be 
given  in  the  concurrence  of  events,  in 
the  call  of  circumstances,  or  in  the 
application  of  some  verse  of  Scripture 
to  our  hearts;  but  oftener  still,  per- 
haps, in  that  inner  light,  and  that 
still,  small  voice,  of  which  the  secret 
heart  is  alone  aware. 

These  leadings  are  never  withheld 
from  any  perplexed  child  of  God  who 
really  needs  them,  and  awaits  them  in 
unwavering  expectancy.  At  first  they 
may  not  be  very  distinct:  but  they  will 
glimmer  out  into  light.  It  is  well  to 
wait  till  they  become  perfectly  clear. 
"The  vision   will    come;   it    will    not 


xrbe  Sp jrit^s  mitne^s,      1 1 7 


tarry."  The  only  condition  to  be  ful- 
filled by  us  is  to  divest  our  hearts  of 
all  prejudice  and  self-will;  to  wean 
ourselves  from  natural  impulses,  as 
little  children;  to  hold  ourselves  open 
to  take  any  course  which  He  may  sug- 
gest: and  we  shall  know,  by  glad  and 
certain  experience,  the  leadings  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

The  Spirit  bears  luitness  that  we  are 
children  of  God  (verse  i6). 

The  method  of  this  witness  has  been 
often  misunderstood.  Men  have  list- 
ened for  some  mystic  voice,  which 
should  speak  within  their  heart,  say- 
ing, "Thou  art  a  child."  And  because 
they  have  listened  for  it  in  vain,  they 
have  been  ready  to  despair.  But  this 
blessed  witness  is  ra.ther  an  ijnpression 
than  a  voice;  a  conviction  wrought 
into  the  fabric  or  texture  of  the  spirit; 
an  assurance  ^^\<^^,  as  the  years  go  by, 
testing    it,     becomes      a    bulwark    on 


ii8        Ubc  Spirit's  Ibelp* 

which  the  waves  of  doubt  break  harm- 
lessly into  clouds  of  spray. 

And  the  subject-matter  of  which  the 
Spirit  witnesseth  is  not,  primarily, 
that  we  are  children,  but  that  God  is 
our  Father.  He  teaches  us  to  call 
God  "Father."  He  moulds  our  lips 
into  the  child-like  cry,  Abba.  He 
compels  us  to  launch  away  from  the 
thought  of  our  childship  on  to  the 
ocean  of  His  Fatherhood.  Beneath 
His  searching,  God  in  Christ  becomes 
infinitely  lovable  and  delightful;  per- 
fect love  casteth  out  fear;  the  heart 
turns  to  Jehovah  with  the  freedom  of 
a  child  to  a  father,  and  thus  insensibly 
our  attitude  towards  God  becomes  the 
best  evidence  that  we  are  His  children. 

The  Spirit  helpeth  ou7'  infirmities 
(verse  26). 

Never  do  we  feel  them  more  than  at 
the  hour  of  prayer.  Sometimes  our 
thoughts  scatter  like  a  flock  of   sheep; 


Zbc  Spirit's  Ibelp.         ng 

or  flag  and  faint  before  the  spiritual 
effort  of  stirring  ourselves  up  to  take 
hold  on  God.  Who  does  not  have 
times,  when  (to  use  Jeremy  Taylor's 
similitude)  prayer  is  like  the  rising 
of  a  lark  against  an  east  wind?  We 
even  tire  in  maintaining  the  attitude 
of  devotion:  and  how  much  more  its 
spirit!  We  know  not  what  to  pray 
for;  we  are  ignorant  of  the  best  argu- 
ments to  employ;  we  ask  amiss;  we 
cannot  keep  in  the  perpetual  spirit  and 
temper  of  devotion;  we  lack  that  calm 
faith,  which  can  leave  its  burden  at 
the  mercy-seat,  and  be  at  rest. 

In  all  th.s  the  Spirit  helpeth  us. 
He  "helpeth  our  infirmities."  Know- 
ing the  mind  of  God,  He  is  aware  of 
those  things  which  it  will  please  our 
Father  to  bestow,  and  which  indeed  are 
only  waiting  for  us  to  ask  them  at 
His  hand.  These  He  suggests  to  us; 
for  these  He  excites  strong  and  pas- 
sionate desire;    with   respect    to  these 


120         trbe  Spirit's  Ibelp, 

He  leads  us  to  pour  out  our  souls  in 
importunate  and  prevailing  prayer. 
When  next  you  are  sensible  of  a 
mighty  tide  of  desire  rising  up  in 
your  heart,  bearing  you  forward  on  its 
bosom  toward  God,  yield  to  it;  let  it 
have  its  blessed  way  with  you.  Though 
there  be  almost  pain  in  the  unuttera- 
ble passion  of  desire,  dare  not  to  re- 
strain it;  for  the  Holy  Spirit  is  then 
taking  you  up  into  the  purposes  of 
God,  and  is  leading  you  to  ask  those 
things  which  lie  near  His  heart,  and 
which  brood  over  you  as  clouds  of 
blessing  ready  to  break.  This  is  true 
prayer:  the  attempt  on  the  part  of 
man  to  tell  out  the  deep,  unutterable 
thoughts,  which  the  Spirit  is  inspir- 
ing within. 

The  Spirit  maketh  intercession  with 
groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered  (verse 
26). 

Goethe  said,  that  when  he  stood 
alone    amid  the   scenes  of    nature,  she 


XLbc  Splrirs  Ibelp.         i^i 

seemed  to  be  like  an  imprisoned  cap- 
tive sighing  to  be  redeemed.  Some 
such  thought  seemed  present  to  the 
Apostle,  when  he  spoke  of  the  groan- 
ing of  creation,  and  the  groaning  of 
the  saints. 

But  how  passing  wonderful  to  be 
told  of  the  groaning  of  the  Spirit!  — 
not  the  groans  of  death;  but  the  travail 
groans  of  birth,  ushering  in  a  new  crea- 
ation.  Ah!  no  one  can  estimate  the 
pain  which  our  sins  and  sorrows  cost 
God.  "It  grieved  Him  to  His  heart." 
"I  know  their  sorrows."  "In  all  their 
affliction,  He  was  afflicted."  And  out 
of  all  this  spring  the  intercessions 
which  the  Spirit  maketh  in  and  for  the 
saints;  and  which  sometimes  almost 
break  down  the  human  spirit  in  which 
they  strive  for  utterance.  What  do 
we  not  owe  to  those  mighty  and  unut- 
terable pleadings?  How  many  a  time 
have  they  brought  untold  blessings 
into  our    hearts    and    lives!      We  did 


122        Zbc  Spirit's  Ibelp, 

not  realize  their  source:  but  had  we 
realized  it,  we  Vvould  have  prized 
more  gratefully  those  gentle  yet 
kiighty  operations. 

All  the  mightiest  and  saintliest  of 
God's  children  have  been  most  aware 
of  the  infinite  distance  between  their 
noblest  attainments  in  experience  of 
prayer,  and  the  ultimate  spltndour  and 
fulness  of  God.  The  biography  of 
one  of  the  best  is  entitled  "Confes- 
sions."* He  knows  little  of  the 
Christian  life,  who  is  always  conscious 
of  being  able  to  express  all  he  feels. 
The  joy  is  sometimes  unspeakable; 
the  peace  passeth  all  understanding. 

But  all  these  are  signs  of  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart. 
And  all  He  is  doing  there,  unutterable 
and  glorious  as  it  is,  is  the  outcome 
of  the  will  of  God,  and  therefore 
certain  to  be  realized  some  day  in  fact. 

"He  maketh  intercession  for  the 
saints  according  to  the  will  of  god.  " 

^Augustine. 


XIV. 

Hbe  Spirit  Xustetb  against  tbe 
mcBbr 

Galatians  v.  17. 
•E  are  not    in    the  flesh;  but  the 
flesh  is  in  us.     This  seems  to  be 
incontrovertible      testimony      of 
Scripture  and  experience. 

Writing  to  the  Galatian  Christians, 
the  Apostle  makes  use  of  an  expres- 
sion which  shows  that,  in  his  estima- 
tion, taught  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  there 
was  no  eradication  of  the  principle  of 
the  old  nature,  known  as  the  flesh.  He 
says:  "The  flesh  lusteth  against  the 
spirit."  Evidently,  therefore,  it  was  a 
matter  of  continual  experience,  with 
Him  and  tl.em:   he  speaks  of     it    as    a 


124       ''Zbc  Spirit  5Lustetb/' 

matter  concerning  which  there  can  be 
no  dispute. 

Those  who  teach  the  eradication  of 
the  self-life,  often  beg  the  question  by 
asking  if  God,  who  has  done  so  much, 
could  not  also  root  out  the  old  fleshly 
principle  of  the  self-life.  To  this 
question  there  is  but  one  answer:  of 
course  He  could.  But  to  ask  the  ques- 
tion is  to  raise  a  false  issue.  It  is 
not  what  God  can  do,  but  what  He 
chooses  to  do.  And  so  far  as  I  can 
understand  the  Bible,  it  does  not  teach 
that  the  eradication  of  the  flesh  is 
God's  intention  for  us  on  this  side  of 
the  gates  of  pearl. 

But    t/iis    is    God's     intention,     as 

clearly  taught  in  Romans  vi. — we  who 

believe    are    accounted    as     one    with 

Jesus: 

"One  when  He  died;  one  when  He  rose; 
One  when  He  triumphed  o'er  His  foes; 
One  when  in  heaven  He  took  His  seat, 
And  Heaven  rejoiced  o'er  Hell's  defeat." 

Therefore,  having  died    in  Him,  we 


**1Recl?on  IJourselves  H)eat)/'  125 

have,  by  death,  passed  out  of  the  realm 
of  sin.  "He  that  is  dead  is  freed  from 
sin."  In  God's  thought  and  intention, 
we  are  where  Christ  is,  on  the  other 
side  of  death;  and  therefore  for  ever 
delivered  from  the  bondage  and  claims 
of  sin.  And  now  it  is  our  duty  by 
faith  to  make  God's  thought  ours. 
We  must  reckon  ourselves  to  be  dead 
indeed  unto  sin,  and  alive  unto  God. 
It  is  not  that  the  sin-principle  (the 
old  man)  is  dead  in  usj  but  we  must 
be  dead  to  it.  Whenever  it  arises, 
we  are  to  account  ourselves  as  being 
insensible  to  its  claims:  as  a  corpse  is 
to  the  tears  of  warm  affection,  or  to 
the  winsome  embraces  of  a  love  that 
cannot  part. 

Does  not  this  command.  Reckon  your- 
selves dead,  prove  that  the  old  man  has 
not  ceased  to  exist?  If  it  had,  then 
it  would  have  been  needless  to  reckon 
ourselves  dead  to  it.  The  necessity 
of    reckoning    ourselves    dead     proves 


126      <<Ube  Spirit  %mtctbr 

that  it  is  still  present  within  us,  re- 
quiring from  us  an  attitude  of  con- 
stant denial  and  abhorrence  and  disre- 
gard. 

But  how  can  we  take  up  and  main- 
tain this  attitude?  It  is  an  impossi- 
bility to  those  who  have  not  learnt  to 
live  in  the  power  of    the  Holy  Ghost. 

Listen  to  these  striking  testimonies 
of  Scripture : 

"The  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from 
the  law  of  sin  and  death."  (Rom. 
viii.  2.) 

"If  ye  THROUGH  THE  SPIRIT  do  mor- 
tify the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall 
live."     (Rom.    viii.    13.) 

"Walk  IN  THE  SPIRIT,  and  ye  shall 
not  fulfil  the  lust  of  the  flesh."  (Gal. 
V.    16.) 

We  have  also  the  assurance  of  the 
succeeding  verse,  that  if  the  flesh 
lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  the  Spirit 
lusts  back  again,  and    more    mightily, 


iflesb  ant)  Spirit.  127 

against  the  flesh,  so  that  we  may  not 
do  the  things  which  otherwise  we 
should.  (See  Gal.  v.  17,  r.  v.)  How 
gladly  may  we  dwell  upon  this  glorious 
present  tense!  Where  the  Christian 
is  living  in  the  fullness  of  the  Spirit, 
the  flesh  has  no  chance.  It  is  within 
him;  it  may  strive  to  entice  him 
(James  i.  14);  it  may  even  stretch  out 
its  hands  in  answer  to  the  solicitation 
of  the  devil  from  without;  but  it  is 
carefully  watched  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Its  every  movement  is  resisted.  It  is 
kept  down  by  His  gracious  energy.  It 
is  quelled  so  instantly  that  the  spirit 
is  hardly  conscious  of  its  strivings. 
And  the  power  of  the  flesh,  as  the 
years  go  past,  becomes  so  broken,  that 
it  is  but  the  attenuated  skeleton  of  its 
former  self.  Thus  we  are  kept  from 
doing  what  otherwise,  and  if  left  to  our- 
selves, we  should  be  certain  to  do. 
Nothing  but  the  divine  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  could  keep  us  from    being 


128     **ui)c  Spirtr  Xustetb." 

swept  away  before  the  lustings  of  the 
flesh. 

Some  years  ago,  I  lived  in  a  house, 
the  underground  kitchen  of  which  was 
so  damp  that,  when  we  failed  to  keep  up 
a  vigorous  fire,  the  floor  was  encrusted 
with  white  mould,  so  much  so  that  the 
maid  could  fill  her  dust-pan  with  it; 
but  when  the  fire  was  burning  bright 
and  warm,  the  bricks  and  walls  were 
kept  perfectly  dry.  There  was  always 
the  latent  tendency  to  produce  damp; 
but  it  was  kept  in  abeyance  by  the 
heat,  so  it  could  not  do  as  it  other- 
wise would.  So  when  the  Holy  Ghost, 
as  fire,  works  mightily  within  the 
heart,  those  tendencies  to  sin,  which 
are,  alas!  natural  to  us,  are  overcome 
and  thwarted,  and  kept  in  the  place 
of  death. 

In  an  infected  house,  the  carbolic 
acid  plentifully  distributed  in  basins 
and  on  sheets  acts  as  an  antiseptic 
to  the  germs  coming  from  the  patient's 


TLbc  Spirit' 6  JnbwellmG,     129 

body,  so  that  they  are  prevented  doing 
what  otherwise  they  would  to  healthy 
subjects.  The  blessed  Spirit  is  the 
antiseptic  to  the  evil  of  the  old  nature. 

The  Holy  Ghost  is  in  every  Chris- 
tian. "If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  His."  But  in 
many  He  is  cribbed  into  a  narrow  space ; 
confined  in  an  attic  or  a  cellar  of  their 
souls;  and  therefore  He  cannot  do  foi 
them  what  He  would.  H  that  has  been 
so,  and  if,  therefore,  your  life  has  been 
one  of  failure  and  disappointment,  open 
every  department  and  room  of  your  be- 
ing to  His  gracious  operations. 

And  as  mercury,  when  poured  into  a 
glass  of  water,  will  expel  the  water 
and  take  its  place,  so  will  the  Holy 
Spirit  take  possession  of  your  being, 
filling  you,  as  on  the  day  of  Pentecost 
He  filled  the  waiting  disciples:  and 
then  He  will  dwell  within  you  mightily; 
keeping  pure  and  holy  the  body, 
which  is  His  peculiar  Temple. 


XV. 
XDlpbratt)etb  IRot 

James  i.  5. 

tfS  not  that  like  God?  It  is  much 
[Jfor  Him  to  give;  more  for  Him  to 
give  liberally;  most  for  Him  not  to 
upbraid  the  suppliants — because  it  is 
just  here  that  so  many  well-meaning 
men  brush  off  the  exquisite  bloom 
from  the  luscious  fruits  of  their  gifts. 
We  upbraid.  We  upbraid  men  that 
they  are  not  more  provident;  that  they 
come  so  often;  that  they  ask  so  much. 
We  make  our  aid  the  occasion  for  a 
reprimand  or  a  lecture.  We  keep  sup- 
pliants waiting  until  we  have  admin- 
istered the  reproof  which  we  imagine 
their  case  demands;  or  have  reminded 
them  of  the    many    instances    of    past 


Ube  iprobt^aL  131 

ingratitude  and  sin.  But  there  is 
nothing  like  that  in  God. 

We  may  go  to  Him  a  thousand 
times  in  a  single  day;  but  He  will 
never  '  upbraid  us  with  coming  too 
often.  We  may  go  to  Him  with 
needs  immense  as  the  ocean's  bed; 
but  He  will  never  upbraid  us  with 
asking  too  much.  We  may  go  to  Him 
after  years  of  ingratitude  and  neglect; 
but  He  will  never  upbraid  us  with  the 
past.  It  will  never  be  so  much  as 
mentioned  by  Him;  though  His  loving- 
kindness  will  bring  it  more  to  our 
minds  than  His  severest  censures. 

What  a  blessing  it  was  for  the  prod- 
igal that  he  did  not  meet  his  elder 
brother  before  his  father!  Had  the 
two,  by  any  sad  mischance,  met  face 
to  face  in  the  field,  it  is  certain  that 
the  ragged  wanderer  would  never  have 
gone  another  step.  His  brother  would 
have  upbraided  him  with  leaving 
home,  and  wasting    his  patrimony,  and 


13^         ^'tnpbrafbetb  flot/' 

coming  back  in  so  disgraceful  a  state. 
Assuredly  he  would  not  have  killed 
the  fatted  calf;  but  he  would  have 
killed  all  hope  in  that  sad  and  sin- 
stained  soul.  With  one  farewell 
glance  at  the  dear  old  home,  the  peni- 
tent would  have  turned  back  to  the 
far-country  and  the  swine.  Those  up- 
braidings  would  have  broken  the 
bruised  reed,  and  quenched  the  smok- 
ing flax  in  densest  midnight. 

But  mercifully  the  prodigal  first  met 
his  father,  whose  heart  had  never 
ceased  to  yearn  for  him,  and  whose 
eye  strove  against  the  blinding  touch 
of  grief  and  years,  that  it  might  still 
scan  the  road  along  which  that  prodi- 
gal child  had  gone.  Was  there  up- 
braiding in  his  look  or  tone?  Never! 
Was  there  upbraiding  mingled  with 
the  first  glad  notes  of  welcome?  Not 
a  trace!  Not  a  word  about  the  long 
absence,  the  unbroken  silence,  the 
wasted  wealth,  the  wild  and  evil  life! 


Oo^  tbe  Giver.  133 


If  the  son  had  had  his  way,  he  would 
have  carried  his  confession  to  the  end, 
and  chosen  for  himself  the  servant's 
lot;  but  even  in  that  he  was  stopped, 
and  silenced  with  the  warm  rush  of 
his  father's  love.  "He  gave  liberally, 
and  upbraided  not.  " 

This  is  a  true  picture  of  God.  Ho 
gives,  and  gives  again.  He  gives 
tears  and  blood.  He  gives  His  dar- 
ling and  His  All.  And  yet  when  men 
ask  more,  and  demand  from  Him  years 
of  forbearance  and  patience,  He  still 
gives  without  flinching  or  chiding;  in 
the  firm  desire  to  give  the  sinner  no 
loop-hole  for  excuse,  no  ground  for 
persistence  in  sin. 

Tender  love  has  sometimes  changed 
to  gall;  and  turning  on  the  one  to 
whom  once  it  clung,  but  who  has 
abused  its  trust,  has  bitterly  upbraided 
the  neglect,  the  abuse,  the  cruelty  of 
years,  in  words  which  sting  like  fire. 
But  the  love  of  God  beareth  all  things, 


134        '^'Clpbratbetb  IHot/' 

believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things, 
enduret?!  all  things — and  "upbraideth 
not. "  Do  not  stay  away,  then,  because 
your  heart  condemns  you,  or  because 
you  have  abused  His  gifts  in  the  past: 
the  only  upbraidings  you  need  fear  are 
those  that  may  be  uttered  by  your  own 
heart  for  not  having  come  before. 

These  words  ("upbraideth  not")  were 
principally  spoken  in  reference  to 
our  need  of  wisdom — an  incessantly 
recurring  need!  We  are  as  little 
children  groping  in  the  dark.  We 
have  never  before  been  along  this  road. 
We  are  daily  being  tested  by  difficul- 
ties we  cannot  master,  and  problems 
we  cannot  solve.  How  can  we  thread 
our  way  through  a  maze  so  intricate  as 
this  wondrous  human  life?  Where 
is  the  man  who  is  so  reliant  on  his 
own  sagacity  as  to  be  perfectly  able 
to  trust  his  own  decisions?  Do  we 
not  need  some  wise  and  ever-accessible 
Mentor  and   Friend,  who    shall    teagh 


Mtsbom  Given.  ^35 


us  just  how  to  act  when  the  road  forks, 
and  the  sign-posts  are  wanting? 

What  a  comfort,  then,  it    is  to  know 
that  whenever  we  lack  wisdom  we  may 
come  to  God  for    it!      We    may    have 
come  very  often    before ;  but    we    may 
come  again.      We    may    need    a    great 
deal  of  patient  teaching;  but  we  need 
not  be    abashed.     We    may    be    very 
stupid,  and  require  to  have  things  put 
very  simply  and  clearly,  as  to  an  idiot 
child;  but  God  will    never    count    the 
trouble  one  whit  too  much.     We    may 
not    have   previously    acted  on  the  ad- 
vice given  us;  but  we  may  come  again, 
as  though  for    the    first    time,  sure    of 
a  hearty  welcome,  a  sympathetic  hear- 
ing, a  liberal  supply  of  wisdom.      "He 
upbraideth  not." 

The  wisdom  may  not  be  given  in 
advance,  or  in  the  form  we  might  have 
thought;  but  it  will  be  given  just 
when  the  answer  must  be  returned,  or 
the  step  taken.     It  shall  be    given    in 


136         ^^XDlpbraibetb  IRot" 

the  strong  impression  on  the  heart;  in 
the  clear  conviction  of  duty;  in  the 
concurrence  of  circumstances;  in  the 
indication  of  slight  symptoms  which 
could  only  be  discerned  by  the  eye 
fixed  steadfastly  on  the  eye  of  God. 
"It  shall  be  given.  '  None  will  be 
able  to  gainsay,  or  refute,  or  resist  the 
wisdom  thus  bestowed.  It  will  be 
like  that  gift  whose  presence  in  Solo- 
mon instantly  betrayed  itself  to  the 
world.  "They  saw  that  the  wisdom 
of  God  was  in  him." 

And  the  time  will  never  come,  when 
in  this  or  any  other  respect,  there  shall 
be  any  lack  to  those  who  seek  the 
Lord;   for 

'He  giveth  to  all  liberally, 
and  upbraideth  not," 


XVI. 

I  Corinthians  iii.  21. 
LL  things  serve  the  man  that  serves 
Jesus  Christ,  the  great  Servant  oi 
God.  That  seems  to  be  something 
like  the  meaning  of  the  words  with 
which  St.  Paul  closes  his  argument 
here.  We  may  not  follow  now  the  suc- 
cessive steps  of  that  argument,  which 
has  been  forged  in  his  glowing  heart; 
but  we  may  appropriate  this  sublime 
conclusion:  "All  are  yours;  and  ye 
are  Christ's;  and  Christ  is  God's." 

The  primary  thought  is  not  posses- 
sion or  proprietorship;  for  though 
that  is  true  of  the  relation  between  us 
and  Christ,  it  is  not  true  of  the  rela- 
tion between   Christ    and     the  Father, 


138     *'Ull  TLbirxQB  are  J^ours." 

And  evidently  these  clause-links  are 
constructed  upon  the  same  model,  be- 
cause those  whom  they  connect  stand 
in  the  same  relation  to  one  another. 
What  then,  is  that  common  relation 
which  binds  all  things  to  us,  in  the 
same  way  as  we  are  bound  to  Christ, 
and  Christ  to  God  the  Father? 

There  is  but  one  common  ground 
on  which  these  clauses  stand;  and  that 
is  Muiistjy,  or  service — the  golden 
thread  that  runs  through  all  creation, 
making  it  one.  The  ancient  fable 
told  that  all  things  were  bound  by 
golden  chains  about  the  feet  of  God: 
and  surely  the  real,  deep  connection  of 
which  the  fable  spoke  is  to  be  found 
in  the  service  which  each  lower  order 
of  creation  renders  to  the  one  above — 
the  service  becoming  rarer  and  more 
refined  as  the  pyramid  of  existence 
tapers  to  a  point. 

As  the  Son  of  Man,  otir  Lord  was 
also  the  Servant  of  God-     '"Behold  My 


**U3  one  tbat  Servetb*"      139 

Servant  whom  I  uphold."  "The  God 
of  our  fathers  hath  glorified  His  Serv- 
ant Jesus."  (Acts  iii.  13,  R.  v.)  And 
His  august  service  is  surely  sketched 
in  words  which  foretell  that  He  will 
put  down  all  rule  and  authority,  and 
power,  and  deliver  up  the  Kingdom  to 
God,  even  the  Father.  He  was  amongst 
men  "as  one  that  serveth. "  But  His 
service  is  continued  still.  He  girds 
Himself  with  a  towel  to  wash  our 
feet;  He  breaks  again  the  bread  of 
His  own  life,  and  puts  to  our  lips  the 
chalice  of  His  own  blood,  He  busies 
Himself  in  our  cares,  and  wants,  and 
work.  And  in  ministering  to  us.  He 
is  surely  fulfilling  also  the  will  of  the 
Father,  with  whom  He  is  one — God  as 
well  as  man,  in  the  ever-blessed  Trin- 
ity. In  such  senses  the  life  of  our 
blessed  Lord  is  even  now  one  of  in- 
cessant ministry. 

In  this  same  sense,  ive  are  His  serv- 
ants.     "Ye  are  Christ's."     We  are^  of 


I40     **mi  UbinQB  are  Iffoujs/' 

course,  His,  in  the  sense  of  being 
owned  by  Him:  He  made  us;  He 
bought  us;  He  claims  us.  But  how 
many  of  us  resemble  Onesimus,  the 
runaway  slave  of  Philemon! — who 
probably  bore  the  brand  of  his  master, 
and  had  certainly  been  purchased  by 
his  gold;  but  who  withheld  from  him 
his  service,  following  the  bent  of  his 
own  wayward  will,  and  herding  with 
the  most  abandoned  of  the  populace, 
that  rotted  in  the  criminal  quarters  of 
ancient  Rome.  We  too  have  been 
bought  by  the  Lord,  at  priceless  cost; 
but  we  are  far  from  serving  Him  with 
the  same  sort  of  loyal  and  whole- 
hearted ministry  with  which  He,  in 
His  unwearied  solicitude  for  us,  serves 
God. 

We  know  little  of  those  high  themes 
which  now  engross  Him;  but  we  can 
understand  a  little  better  the  aims 
and  character  of  His  early  life.  Let 
US  take  these    as    our    model,   day    by 


^^K^abboni!"  hi 


day.  He  had  no  plan  or  pattern  of 
His  own,  but  was  content  to  work  out 
the  will  of  His  Father:  let  us  work 
out  His  will,  hourly  suggested  to  us. 
He,  as  it  were,  suppressed  His  own 
glorious  Self,  that  the  Father  who 
dwelt  in  Him  might  work  through 
Him:  let  us  no  longer  live,  but  let 
Christ  live  His  life  in  us.  He  sacri- 
ficed all,  that  He  might  finish  the 
work  of  Him  who  sent  Him:  let  us 
count  nothing  too  great  a  sacrifice  if 
only  we  may  hear  Him  say,  "Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant!"  In 
these  and  in  many  ways  we  may  make 
His  service  a  model  of  our  own.  Nay, 
better  still,  we  may  let  Him  repeat 
His  life  of  ministry  through  us,  and 
fulfil  in  us  His  perfect  ideal. 

But  whenever  we  get  into  this  right 
attitude  towards  our  Lord  Jesus  we 
shall  find  that  all  things  begin  to 
minister  to  us  in  a  constant  round  of 
holy  service.      Each  event    or    circum- 


142    *'mi  TLbims  aje  jgours,'' 

stance  in  life  becomes  an  angel,  laden 
with  blessed  helpfulness,  bringing  to 
us  the  gifts  of  our  beloved  Master. 

That  title,  "Rabboni,  Master,"  the 
sweetest  name  by  which  the  prostrate 
soul  can  address  its  Saviour,  does 
not  degrade  or  demean  it;  but  enables 
it,  like  the  babe  Christ,  to  be  the 
recipient  of  costly  presents  sent  from 
afar — gold  and  spices,  frankincense, 
and  myrrh.  If  you  have  been  chafing 
at  your  lot,  thinking  that  time  and 
things  are  robbing  you,  you  may  be 
sure  that  you  are  not  as  3'ou  should  be 
towards  Christ;  and  the  true  cure  will 
be  to  get  as  a  slave  to  His  feet.  Then 
all  things  will  be  "yours"  in  this 
deep  sense. 

"  Whethei'  Paul,  or  A  polios,  or 
Cephas.''  Each  of  these  names  stands 
foi  a  distinct  species  of  teaching — 
the  argumentative,  the  eloquent,  the 
hortative.  Do  not  pass  any  of  them  by; 
from  those  with  whom    you  have  least 


**©r  Xite,  or  Deatb/*       143 


sympathy,  you  may  glean  something. 
Each  disciple  brings  some  bits  of 
bread  and  fish.  Each  stone  flashes 
some  colour  needed  by  the  prism  to 
effect  the  beam  of  perfect  light.  Each 
flower  may  furnish  some  ingredient  for 
the  common  store  of  honey. 

"Or  the  world.  "  This  is  our  school, 
hung  with  maps,  and  diagrams,  and 
simple  lessons.  Ihere  is  not  a  single 
flower,  nor  a  distant  star,  nor  a  mur- 
muring brooklet,  nor  a  sound  sweet  or 
shrill;  there  is  not  a  living  creature, 
or  a  natural  process,  that  may  not 
serve  us;  not  only  by  meeting  some 
appetite  of  sense,  but  of  teaching  us 
such  deep  lessons  as  those  which 
Jesus  drew  from  the  scenes  around 
Him,  saying,  "The  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  like. 

"Or  life,  or  death.'  When  life  is 
lit  up  in  some  new  young  being,  it  may 
seem  to  involve  you  in  a  perpetual 
service,     for    which     you     obtain     no 


144    ''HU  Ubim5  are  l^outs/' 

adequate  return.  But  this  is  in  the 
outward  seeming  only:  there  is  a  yet 
deeper  sense  in  which  that  tiny  babe 
ministers  to  you;  in  suggesting  deeper 
thoughts  of  life,  and  its  meaning  and 
destiny;  in  revealing  to  you  something 
of  the  tie  between  God  and  your  own 
soul,  which  calls  Him  Father.  And 
death,  though  it  appear  to  rob  you, 
really  enriches  you — by  making  perma- 
nent feelings  of  resignation,  and  trust, 
find  anticipation,  which  are  not  natural 
to  man. 

"Or  things  present,  or  tilings  to 
come."  How  quickly  the  incidents  of 
daily  life  are  gliding  over  us!  and  as 
they  pass,  to  our  weak  gaze  they  steal 
from  us  so  much  that  we  hold  dear — 
the  elastic  step,  the  clear  vision,  the 
strong  nerve,  the  beloved  friend,  the 
hard-earned  gold. 

Sometimes  the)^  manifestly  enrich  us. 
For  the  young  there  is  a  constant  sense 
of  acquisition.      One  good  and    perfect 


Hbo\>e  Circumstances^      145 

gift  follows  swiftly  on  the  heels  of 
another.  But  when  we  have  crossed  the 
summit  of  life's  hill  there  is  an  inces- 
sant consciousness  of  loss. 

Yet,  in  God's  sight,  and  in  the 
Spiritual  realm,  these  distinctions  van- 
ish and  pass  away  as  mists  under  the 
touch  of  the  sun:  and  we  find  that  all 
incidents  come  to  bless  us;  all  winds 
waft  us  to  our  haven;  all  tribes  bring- 
their  tribute  into  the  throne-room  of 
our  inner  being. 

We  are  not  the  creatures  of  circum- 
stances; but  their  masters,  their  kings, 
their  lords.  All  these  things  are  the 
servants  and  tutors  appointed  by  our 
Father,  to  wait  on  and  minister  to  us. 
His  heirs. 

"All  THINGS    ARE    YOURS." 


XVII. 

MorMna  UoQctbcv  for  6oo^. 

THE  KEEN  SIGHT  OF  LOVE. 
Romans  viii.  28. 
•T  is  not  given  to  all  men  to  look 
.behind  the  phenomena  of  daily  life, 
and  to  see  into  the  methods  and  pur- 
poses of  God.  This  is  the  prerogative 
of  those  who  love. 

Love  is  quick  to  catch  the  meaning 
of  a  hint,  a  gesture,  a  whisper.  Love 
has  an  instinctive  apprehension  of 
secrets,  too  deep  for  words  to  convey. 
Love  can  afford  to  wait  the  unfolding 
of  those  deepest  thoughts,  which  eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  the 
heart  of  man  conceived.  Love  is  the 
befitting  atmosphere  in  which  the 
Spirit  of  Love  can  brood,    who  is  also 


the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  revelation, 
and  who  teacheth  as  none  other  can. 
If    you   would    know,    you   must    love. 

Do  you  love?  Can  you  answer  with- 
out a  moment's  doubt  the  question — 
"Lovest  thou  Me?"  The  materials  for 
the  answer  cannot  be  discovered  in 
emotion  or  ecstacy,  which  may  some 
day  disappear — as  light  dying  off  the 
hills;  or  a  tropical  stream  suddenly 
absorbed  into  the  volcanic  hollows 
beneath  its  bed.  Not  there,  but  here, 
is  there  a  growing  sense  of  God's 
personal  love  to  you,  and  of  His  pa- 
rental care?  Are  you  more  sensitive 
to  the  presence  of  sin  in  yourself  and 
others?  Do  His  commandments  in- 
spire you  with  a  more  quiet  and  entire 
obedience?  His  day — His  book — His 
people — are  these  more  to  you  than 
once  the  scenes  of  worldly  pleasure? 
If  so,  you  love  Him;  and  that  love 
will  grow. 

And     as    it    grows    in     lengthening 


148  MorMuG  Uogetber  for  6oo&* 

years,  you  will  become  aware  that, 
after  all,  it  is  not  yours,  but  His — the 
reflection  of  His  love,  the  beam  of 
His  love,  which  has  smitten  your  heart 
and  been  flashed  off;  as  a  ray  of  sun- 
shine will  sometimes  strike  a  pane  in 
the  window  of  a  distant  cottage,  and 
shine  there  as  a  point  of  light,  seen 
from  the  distance  of  many  miles.  It 
is  the  outcome  of  His  eternal  pur- 
pose, which  he  purposed  in  Himself  in 
the  eternal  ages.  Oh,  marvellous 
origin  of  the  love  of  our  poor  hearts, 
which  has  wrought  through  our  calling; 
and  has  effected  such  a  result  in  those 
who  otherwise  had  been  loveless  in- 
deed— unloving  and  unloved! 

Love  discerns  the  working  of  God's 
plan  when  all  seems  most  still. 

"  We  know  that  things  work. "  How- 
ever stationary  the  stars  appear  to  be 
in  the  blue  heavens,  we  know  that  they 
are  really  sailing    onward,    with  great 


Silent  iprogtess*  149 

velocity,  in  their  destined  courses. 
The  ocean  may  seem  to  sleep  at  our 
feet,  but  in  reality  it  is  in  a  state  of 
incessant  activity;  its  tides  and  cur- 
rents perpetually  passing  to  and  fro 
on  their  appointed  ministries.  There 
is  not  a  silent  nook  within  the  deep- 
est forest  glade,  which  is  not  the  scene 
of  marvellous  activity,  though  detected 
only  by  the  educated  sense  of  the 
naturalist. 

So  there  are  times  when  our  lives 
lack  variety  and  incident.  The  stream 
creeps  sluggishly  through  the  level 
plain.  Monotony,  common-place,  dull 
routine,  characterize  our  daily  course. 
We  are  disposed  to  think  that  we  are 
making  no  progress;  learning  no  fresh 
lessons;  standing  still  as  the  sun  over 
Gibeon;  or  going  back  as  the  shadow 
on  the  dial  of  Ahaz.  The  child  gets 
impatient,  because  every  day  it  has  to 
play  the  same  scales. 

Then  love  steps  in^  and  sees  that  God 


I50  TKIlot??lng  UoGCtber  tor  Goob. 

is  busily  at  work,  maturing  His  de- 
signs, and  leading  the  life  forward, 
though  insensibly,  into  regions  of 
experience,  which  surpass  all  thought. 
The  day  is  breakings  the  ice  is  giving; 
the  picture  is  advancing;  things  are 
moving.  God  is  working  all  things 
after  the  counsel  of  His  own  will. 

Love  discerns  the  comprehensive- 
ness OF  God's  plan. 

"  We  know  that  all  things  work. " 
Men  are  fond  of  distmguishing  be- 
tween general  and  particular  provi- 
dences. The}^  are  willing  to  acknowl- 
edge the  finger  of  God  in  some  striking 
event;  or  in  the  swift  flashing  out  of 
God's  sword  of  justice.  They  do  not 
hesitate  to  admit  that  life  as  a  whole 
is  under  God's  direction;  but  they 
hesitate  to  say  that  He  is  concerned 
with  its  ordinary  common-places,  value- 
less as  the  sparrow's  fall,  slight  as 
the  hair  of  the  head.  Miles  if  you 
like;  but  not  steps. 


•ffn  (Bot)'5  1bant),  151 

But  love  refuses  to  believe  this 
teaching.  It  looks  on  it  as  practical 
atheism.  It  feels  that  God  cannot  af- 
ford to  let  the  thread  of  its  life  pass 
from  His  hands  for  a  single  moment. 
The  fabric  of  the  character  cannot  for 
an  instant  be  taken  from  God's 
looms.  The  moment  when  God  ceased 
to  hold  a  work  would  be  the  moment 
of  irreparable  wreckage  and  harm. 
Besides,  love  refuses  to  believe  that  its 
destinies  can  be  absent  from  the  hand 
and  heart  of  God,  though  but  for  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye;  or  that  a  single 
thing  could  happen  except  as  He  plan- 
ned, and  determined,  and  permitted. 
Her  quick  eye  sees  Him  ever  about  her 
path,  and  her  lying  down,  and  ac 
quainted  with  all  her  ways. 

The  spirit  thus  seems  no  longer  to 
deal  with  persons  and  things;  but 
only  with  God.  It  sees  no  more  second 
causes;  because  its  range  of  view  is 
filled    by    the    Great  First    Cause.     It 


152  MorfttUG  UoQCtbcv  tot  (3ooD» 

finds  the  will  of  God,  either  permitting 
or  enacting,  in  every  event,  however 
trivial,  that  crosses  its  path.  Every- 
thing becomes  the  vehicle  through 
which  God  comes  near  and  speaks; 
everything  is  intended  for  some  wise 
and  loving  purpose;  everything  is  one 
of  the  turns  of  the  wheel  in  the  hand 
of  the  great  Potter,  who  is  fashioning 
rough  clay  into  a  vessel  for  the  royal 
palace. 

Love  discerns  the  harmony  of 
God's  plan. 
/  "  We  know  that  all  things  work  to- 
gether. "  To  the  eye  of  sense,  things 
seem  contrary  the  one  to  the  other: 
the  North  wind  against  the  South;  the 
frost  against  the  springes  outburst  in 
bud  and  blossom;  tears  against  smiles. 
But  love  detects  the  harmony  of  all 
things;  and  sees  that  they  work  to^ 
gether  like  the  wheels  of  some  huge 
m.achinery,  which  revolve  in  different 
directions,  cog  in    cog,  but  which    are 


XTbe  Great  iPbi^stcian.       153 

hastening  forward  an  identical    result. 

When  the  physician  has  prescribed 
some  medicine,  you  go  to  the  chemist 
to  have  it  made  up;  and  he  takes  one 
ingredient  from  this  phial,  and  another 
from  that,  and  another  from  elsewhere: 
any  one  of  these,  taken  alone,  might 
kill  you  outright  ;  but  when  they  have 
been  well  compounded  and  mixed,  they 
work  together  for  a  perfect  cure. 

Do  not  ask  in  dark  suspicion  how 
this  one  thing  can  be  for  your  good. 
Wait  to  see  the  other  things  with 
which  the  great  Physician  is  about  to 
balance  it.  There  are  wondrous  com- 
pensations in  His  dealings  with  His 
children.  It  is  not  one  thing  by  itself; 
but  one  thing  put  with  another  thing, 
and  that  with  a  third,  and  that  with 
a  fourth,  and  all  these  together,  that 
work  your  good. 

You  cannot  see  the  beauty  in  those 
sombre  tints;  but  wait  till  they  are 
relieved    by    d^§hg§    gf    CQlour.      You 


154  TKHorftiuG  XTogetber  for  (Boo^♦ 

shiver  before  the  wintry  blast;  but  that 
will  work  with  summer  zephyrs  to 
produce  the  autumn  fruit.  You  refuse 
to  be  comforted  beneath  some  afflict- 
ing blow;  but  if  you  can  only  hush 
your  impatience  till  you  seethe  bless- 
ing with  which  it  is  to  be  combined, 
you  will  feel  that  it  was  well  worth 
your  while  to  have  the  bitter,  if  it  were 
needed,  as  the  basis  of  a  wine  of  life, 
so  sweet  to  the  taste. 

Love  discerns  the  benevolence  of 
God's  plan. 

"  We  know  that  all  things  work  together 
FOR  GOOD."  Disastrous  indeed,  and 
adverse,  does  God's  Providence  some= 
times  seem.  Stroke  on  stroke.  Blow  on 
blow.  Tidings  on  tidings  of  dismay. 
And  as  the  loved  ones  carry  Lazarus 
to  the  grave,  though  they  dare  not 
speak  out  what  they  think,  they  cannot 
help  feeling  it  to  be  a  little  hard  that 
they  should  be  allowed  to  suffer  thus, 
by  One  who  had   never  been  known  to 


jfaitb  an&  Xo\>e.  155 

tarry,  when  sickness  or  death  needed 
His  help.  Can  all  this  be  for  good? 
What  good  can  such  things  bring? 

Then  Faith  comes  to  the  aid  of 
Love,  and  reasons  of  God's  Love  and 
Faithfulness.  He  gave  His  Son:  can 
He  withhold  any  good  thing?  He  is 
good:  can  He  give  aught  but  good  and 
perfect  gifts?  He  loves:  can  He  per- 
mit any  hurt  to  come  to  those  who  are 
dear  to  Him  as  the  blood  of  Calvary? 
Have  not  all  His  dealings  in  the  past 
been  only  good?  Is  not  the  united 
testimony  of  the  saints  of  all  ages  to 
the  invariable  beneficence  of  His  deal- 
ings, when  they  have  been  allowed  to 
work  themselves  out  to  their  golden 
conclusion?  Does  not  the  Word  of 
God  guarantee  the  "peaceable  fruit  of 
righteousness"  to  those  who  submit 
lovingly  to  His  chastisement? 

And  thus  Love  is  reassured,  and 
looks  away  from  the  discipline  to  the 
face  of  Him   that    u§es    the    scourge^ 


156  Morfting  XTogetber  tor  (Boob. 

and  as  she  watches  it  closely,  she  sees 
beneath  the  frown,  which  He  wears  as 
a  visor,  the  glances  of  answering  love, 
the  falling  of  pitying  tears.  It  is 
hard  for  Him  to  maintain  the  disguise. 
He  could  not  do  as  He  does  unless  He 
loved  with  a  love  which  is  wise,  and 
firm,  and  strong,  just  because  it  is  so 
deep.  And  thereafter  love  does  not 
hesitate  to  pronounce  of  everything, 
however  dark:  "Even  so,  Father:  it 
seemeth  good  to  Thee,  and  it  is  also 
good  to  me. " 

Even  in  this  life  we  may  live  to 
reap  the  far-off  harvest  of  good,  the 
product  of  the  sowing  of  tears.  But 
if  not,  we  may  surely  reckon  on  doing 
so  in  that  world  where  God  will  un- 
veil to  us  His  plan;  and  tell  us  His 
reasons;  and  explain  to  us  His 
hidden  meaning;  and  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  our  eyes. 


XVIII. 

5  am  tbe  first  anb  tbe  Xast. 

Revelation  i.  17. 
►E  have  attempted  an  impossible 
3L  task  in  discussing  the  theme 
which  has  stood  at  the  head  of  this 
series  of  articles.  And  so  at  last  we 
relinquish  our  attempt,  declaring  our- 
selves defeated— and  well  we  may ;  be- 
cause God  lives  in  the  Present  Tense: 
He  is  the  I  Am;  He  knows  not  a  Past, 
and  anticipates  no  Future:  He  is  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever. 

All  His  dealings  and  promises  move 
on  the  pivot  of  the  word  now:  and 
therefore,  to  discuss  the  Present  Tenses 
of  the  Blessed  Life— is  to  attempt  to 
pour  the  ocean  of  His  infinity  into  the 
narrow    earthen    cup,  which    we    have 


158  '*zbc  first  anb  Ube  Xast." 

held  to  the  thirsty  lips  of  His  chil- 
dren in  these  few  chapters. 

And  yet,  as  we  turn  away  from  our 
unworthy  attempt,  we  cannot  forbear 
saying  a  few  broken  words  on  one  of 
the  noblest  of  them  all;  and  one  which 
seems  to  comprehend  them  all,  as  a 
ray  of  sunlight  comprehends,  inter- 
woven in  its  texture,  the  seven-fold 
beams  which  make  up  the  prismatic 
band. 

It  was  the  lone  isle  of  Patmos, 
washed  by  the  ^gean  :  the  light  of  the 
sun  seemed  brighter  to  the  exiled  Apos- 
tle, because  it  shone  upon  the  day  of 
resurrection:  and  as  he  thought  of  the 
loved  circle,  which  was  meeting  on 
the  other  side  of  the  dissevering  sea, 
and  longed  for  the  world  where  the  sea 
should  be  no  more,  he  was  startled  by 
the  glory  of  a  light  beyond  that  of  the 
meridian  sun:  and  there  stood  before 
him  the  form  of  One  on  whose  bosom 
he  had    leaned    in    earlier    days,  with 


''JSetore  Hll  Ubtngs/'       159 

confiding  love;  but  who  was  now  mar- 
vellously and  gloriously  changed. 

That  voice,  which  once  faltered  in 
dying  agony,  had  in  it  a  volume  of 
sound  like  many  waters.  The  face  once 
marred  with  bitter  anguish,  shone  as 
the  sun.  Those  feet  once  nailed  to  the 
bitter  cross,  were  bright  with  the  glory 
of  burnished  brass.  In  those  hands 
that  once  were  bound  by  cruel  thongs, 
glistened  the  stars  of  the  Churches. 
Whilst  the  breast  on  which  St.  John 
had  been  wont  to  lean,  was  girt  about 
with  the  insignia  of  the  dignity  of  His 
office*  Was  it  wonderful  that  the  be- 
loved Apostle  fell  at  His  feet  as  one 
dead,  and  needed  to  be  raised  by  those 
hands  and  re-assured  by  that  voice? 

What  music  there  was  in  those 
words! — "Fear  not:  I  am  the  First  and 
the  Last!"  What  infinite  conceptions 
cluster  around  those  simple  words,  far- 
reaching  as  eternity,  and  infinite  as 
God!      Jesus  Christ  is  the  su7ti     of    all 


i6o  '*zbc  lpir6t  anD  iCTbe  xasr/' 

being\  the  alphabet  of  all  existence] 
the  Creator  and  the  Final  Cause  of  alj 
creation.  "He  is  before  all  things;" 
and  "fo/  His  pleasure  they  are  and 
were  created."  The  first  germ  of  be- 
ing was  originated  by  His  creative 
hand;  and  when  this  frame  of  nature 
has  run  its  course,  and  fulfilled  its 
purpose,  it  is  He  who  will  speak  the 
word  of  dissolution,  and  bid  it  cease, 
and  sink  back  into  the  nothingness 
from  which  it  came. 

Is  He  not  equally  the  First  and  the 
Last  in  the  Scheme  of  Redemption? 
When  the  first  thought  of  it  arose 
in  the  heart  of  God  (speaking  after 
the  manner  of  men),  Christ  was  there. 
Every  step  in  the  unfolding  of  the 
mighty  scheme  bears  the  mark  of  His 
finger.  No  other  hand  has  been  per- 
mitted to  intrude  into  the  execution 
of  this  masterpiece  of  Love.  He  laid 
the  foundations  of  salvation  in  the 
depths  of  His  agony;     and  every   sue- 


^^jfearlRot!"  i6i 

ceeding  course  in  the  structure  has 
been  laid  by  Him:  and  He  will  bring 
forward  the  top- stone,  amidst  shout- 
ing of  "Grace,  Grace  unto  it!" 

And  this  is  also  true  in  the  history 
of  our  personal  salvation.  It  was  He 
who  originated  the  first  desire  for 
better  things — as  the  first  ray  of  light 
in  the  chaos  of  the  primeval  ages.  And 
it  is  to  His  grace  that  we  must  attrib- 
ute every  virtue  we  possess;  every  holy 
aspiration;  and  every  blessed  lesson  in 
the  divine  life.  Yes,  and  beneath  His 
hand  we  are  to  develop  in  growing 
years,  till  we  come  to  the  dividing- 
line  between  time  and  eternity  :  then 
He  who  was  the  Author  of  faith  in  us, 
will  be  its  Finisher;  His  face  will 
shine  as  the  bright  day-star  heralding 
the  eternal  morning.  And  whatever 
height  of  blessedness  we  attain,  He 
will  ever  be  before  us,  as  a  something 
beyond  our  highest  attainment,  beck- 
oning us  forward:    for    He    must    eve*. 


i62  **zbc  ffirst  anb  Ubc  Xast'* 

be  the  Last  to  those  for  whom  He  has 
been  the  First. 

"Fear  not!"  says  this  Glorious  One. 
"Fear  not!  you  will  need  nothing  out- 
side of  Me.  Fear  not!  I  am  all- 
sufficient.  Fear  not!  all  others  may 
drop  away,  leaving  you  as  the  sole 
survivor  of  your  generation:  but  I  will 
be  always  the  same,  and  remain  with 
you  to  the  last.  Fear  not!  Time,  and 
Life,  and  Earth,  may  pass  away;  but 
I  will  be  at  the  end  of  all,  as  I  was 
at  the  beginning.  All  things  seen  may 
dissolve  as  the  phantasmagoria  of 
cloud  and,  from  which  the  hues  of 
sunset  have  faded;  but  I  shall  remain, 
as  the  Rock  of  Eternity,  which  can 
never  move  from  its  solid  base,  or 
know  the  shadow  of  a  change.  Fear 
not!  Fear  not!  Fear  not!  I  will  never, 
never  leave  thee;  I  will  never,  no 
never,  no  never,  forsake  thee!  " 

Oh,  who  shall  fear,  when  He  stands 
by,    uttering     such    words      as     these! 


aipba  anb  ©mega*         163 

But  before  we  can  derive  from  them 
their  full  weight  of  comfort,  we  need 
to  make  Him  the  First  and  the  Last 
of  every  enterprise;  of  every  act  of 
every  day — aye,  of  every  hour.  Let 
everything  be  begun,  continued,  and 
ended,  in  Him.  Let  His  counsel  be 
sought  on  the  threshold;  His  succour 
on  the  prosecution;  and  His  blessing 
at  the  close.  Let  Him  be  the  star  of 
every  morning  and  of  every  eve.  No 
man  need  fear  when  that  is  so;  for  He 
is  impregnable.  We  may  well  fear 
when  we  step  out  on  a  new  enterprise, 
or  initiate  a  new  scheme,  or  begin  a 
new  day,  without  Him;  and  close 
without  His  benediction  of  peace. 

But  when  He  is  the  Alpha  and 
Omega  of  all;  First,  and  Last,  and 
Midst;  "all  and  in  all";  then  heart 
may  fail,  and  flesh  may  faint,  and  diffi- 
culties gather;  but  the  spirit  may 
still  press  on  with  undaunted  courage, 
whilst  He  whispers  "Fear  not!  " 


prot  2)rummont)'6  Morhe* 

BDOresseg  bg  iprot  1benr^  DrummonC), 

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Preparation  for  Learning.     V.  The  Study  of  the  Bible. 
VI.     "  First ; "  an  Address  to  Boys. 

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"Of  the  well  well  known  authors  of  to-day,  perhaps 
none  holds  a  more  enviable  prominence  than  this  valu- 
able and  suggestive  writer." 


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